Fate, Book 1: Beginnings
by ProAJ13
Summary: I want to tell you a story, one with love and loss, with friendship and fear, with happiness and hate, with angels and demons, with an average boy from Earth who has power forced onto him. You may, at some point, think this is all about the boy, but I assure you, this is about far more than one boy's Fate. (Turns M rated after Book 1 because of sexual themes, blood, cursing.)
1. The Plus One of RWBY Ch1

**At the beginning I wasn't sure where I was going with my story. I made things up as I went until I reached Ch.11, which was the end of The Plus One of RWBY, and has been for a long time.**

 **The full story had only just begun then. If you had been there from the start than you might know what I'm talking about. All the other fics I did, some of them even continuing the story. As things went on I began to have more of an understanding of what I wanted to do with this story.**

 **I know what I want to do now, and that has all culminated in this…**

 **Fate.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own, RWBY, Naruto, Destiny, and anything else I may use or reference throughout this series.**

 **(I just had a crazy idea, instead of all you critics coming over and telling me every single thing that I've done wrong, why not tell me what I've done right instead? You know? Positive reinforcement? Being nice to us sensitive people? Just a crazy idea that no one's ever tried before. Sorry I just have bad experiences from when I first wrote this story… flamers… flamers everywhere… And no, this is not an invitation to argue with someone about the perks of being told what you did wrong, I don't want to hear it.)**

 **(AND FOR ANYONE THAT IS NEW TO MY FICS, this is a rewrite of 'Team SPWM' and 'The Plus One of RWBY' series, as well as 'Universe of Angels' which I will be deleting at some point, so don't read those cause spoilers. Anything else of mine, like 'Angels' is safe to read and not connected to Fate. Actually I think that's the only fic I have that isn't connected to Fate. XD)**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

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The Plus One of RWBY: Ch.1

* * *

Imagine a war that had been going on ever since the beginning.

This war, between angels and demons, had been going on for as long as angels had demons had existed, as long as the multiverse had existed. Yet, of all the planets they've fought on, they've been fighting on this one longer than any other in the war.

At least this planet was devoid of intelligent life.

The leader of the angels on this planet was tasked with finding the demons using his special abilities.

The angel wasn't really that surprised when he sensed that the primary base for demons on this planet was an underground cave.

This angel would be tired of war, if it wasn't for the fact that war had always been a part of him.

Him, the dozen angels behind him, and the army of demons in front of him.

Clearly the demons had made use of magic in this cave, it was the only way to explain how it was literally multiple square miles of underground open space with seemingly nothing holding it up.

The angel pulled his focus over to the more important army of red-skinned, yellow-eyed, winged, horned creatures in front of him.

Hundreds and hundreds of smaller demons, with a dozen larger demons in the back. Normally they would be overwhelmed by the smaller ones before they even got to the demons that were worthy of a name, but the angels would have lost the war _**long**_ ago if they weren't capable of adapting.

They had adapted all right, because when it seemed like they would lose the war way back in the beginning, some angel had the crazy idea of bringing mortals into the war.

The idea was just crazy enough to work, and they needed to have an army of their own anyway.

It took quite a bit of testing, a few hundred years actually. Figuring out how much Angelic Energy was safe to put into a mortal, and how to train them. Send them into other worlds to hone their skills, or train them personally? What happened when you gave mortals this kind of power? It helped that some universes had mortals who already had power. Their powers responded to the angel's powers in interesting ways.

It was many thousands of years ago that they finally got the use of mortals just right, and they have proved to be better than a hundred of the smaller demons. Since then the war slowly balanced out, but angels never could pull into the lead in this war.

You simply don't understand how many millions of years this war has been going on for, across the multiverse. Many angels, demons, and mortals have died in this war, this indescribably long war…

Now, behind the angel, wasn't _just_ a dozen angels, for there was also a mortal or two for every angel.

The angels couldn't agree on a name though… Warriors? Pawns? In the end it didn't matter.

" **Took you angels long enough to find us.** " The demon at the front of the army taunted.

"I have long since lost any interest in speaking with you demons before the battle." The angel responded, his sword's blade stabbed into the ground in front of him with both his hands resting on the hilt. "This war has gone on for so long, every battle is the same, every demon says the same thing."

Demons breed so fast that no matter how many they kill there are always more, that's why this war has gone on for so long.

The demon grinned in response before holding up a pitch black crystal ball.

'A relic?' The angel thought. "Well, at least this will be interesting." He mumbled.

One mortal clad in white armor, walked up to the right side of the angel. He looked up at the angel, the angel that chose him. An angel with brown eyes that glowed with white energy, short white hair, and glowing white armor. His longsword was made of holy metal and glowed with incredible power.

"We are ready, Anima." The man spoke.

"I hope you all are, you've never faced that large an army before." Anima pointed out, looking down at the man at his side, his warrior. Whenever an angel was in a mortal world, they always stood at seven to nine feet tall, towering over most mortals.

"We _will_ defeat them." The mortal assured Anima.

"I wish you all luck." Anima said with a nod.

The mortal nodded back before turning to his fellow mortals behind him. "To the front! Get ready!" He ordered, and the men and women approached to the front of the group, standing in front of the angels.

None of them were younger than thirty, for they had to go through at least twelve years of training before their angel would let them fight demons, and the minimum age that they were chosen was eighteen.

The demon at the front, having fought enough mortal warriors to know their strength, decided them unworthy to fight him and let the army of smaller demons take care of them. With a wave of his hand the human-sized demons charged.

The warriors spread out, each mentally deciding what portion of the army they would fight.

Anima's warrior took out his sword and swung it horizontally in front of him, creating a wave of energy that took out a few dozen demons.

That was the signal for the other warriors to begin their attack.

One began firing explosive arrows, another moved at impossible speeds and cut through his portion with a katana. One began bashing demons left and right with his mace and shield, while another threw out fire, ice, and lighting spells. One performed a few hand signs before breathing out flames, another threw out bomb after bomb before switching to his backup knives. One used a spear and shield, while another was using invisibility and knives to make short work of the demons. One made use of Ki blasts to destroy his portion.

Most of the small demons only had their claws and teeth, and a few also had basic fire spells. Other than that, their only power was numbers. However, the warriors they were fighting were the ones trained by some of the most powerful angels there were.

The one with the mace and shield began shooting energy blasts from his shield. The mage's spells grew in strength greatly. The bomber began throwing storms of sharp leaves that shredded through the demons. The one with the spear and shield started teleporting. The one with invisibility created clones of himself that were capable of combat, making for a very good distraction while he went invisible again.

Those were just some of the abilities that just some of the warriors had gotten from their angels. Soon there were very few small demons left, with made the lead demon frustrated.

Sensing trouble, Anima created a wall of energy between the warriors and the demons. The mortals didn't need to be told to retreat, they just did. Only the angels themselves had a chance of beating a true demon.

With one slash of Anima's sword, a massive wave of energy took out the remaining small demons.

"It's a shame that this fight won't mean the end of the war." Anima commented sadly.

" **You'll never defeat us!** " The lead demon yelled. " **I am the Demon of Anger! I will-** "

"Do you have any idea how many Demons of Anger I've killed?" Anima cut him off.

" **Then I will avenge the ones that came before me!** " The lead demon yelled angrily, and the other demons roared behind him.

The demon flew at Anima, who opened his white angel wings before flying to meet him half way. The collision of Anima's sword and the demon's fire sword created a massive shockwave that pushed back the mortals, even though they were far away. Anima and the demon jumped back from each other.

" **You are powerful… But…** " The demon pulled out the black crystal orb again, and crushed it in his hand, filling himself with dark energy. " **With this power, I will become even stronger!** "

The power that came off of him was so powerful and evil that it was somewhat suffocating.

The demon charged again, and once again Anima met him half way, this time putting more of his own Angelic Energy into the sword. The shockwave that resulted from this was so powerful it created a massive hole in the ceiling that went a few miles up, all the way to the surface, letting light in.

" **What!?** " The demon asked in shock and disbelief as it backed up. " **You… you must have the other relic of this world!** "

"Oh, this?" Anima asked, holding up a white version of the crystal orb that the demon had used. "Yeah we found it, but you aren't worth using it on." He taunted as he pocketed the orb. "You see, the other dozen angels that I brought?" Some of said angels came up to the front and stood next to Anima. "These are the most powerful angels we currently have. Excluding the Archangels of course, they aren't allowed to participate in war. Basically, you have no chance."

" **You… what are you?** " The demon asked in fear, sensing the power coming from the angels before him.

"Well, I'm Anima." Anima said with a grin as he held up his sword over his shoulder.

"I'm Jack." Said the one with the black and white suit, cane, fancy hat, and a sly grin. He had yellow eyes and slick black hair. His right wing was black on the top half and white on the lower half. The left wing was white on top and black on the bottom. The boundary between the white and black was a thin red line.

"I am Tempo." Said the young wizard angel with light blue wings and blue eyes. He had light blue robes and a pale blue magic staff.

"I'm Mars." Said the young female angel with bright red hair, red eyes, red armor, red wings, and a red sword that was on fire. Even her shield was on fire for some reason.

"I have to correct Anima here." Tempo cut in. "We aren't all of the greatest angels, just some of the greatest."

"And if you were wondering which angels we were…" Anima started. "We're not gonna tell ya."

"Unlike you, I have no problem letting these demons know who I am before I kill them." Mars said to Anima before turning to the demon. "I am the Angel of War."

"Yeah you just love to brag, don't ya Mars?" Jack chuckled.

"She can't help but get excited by war, it's just what she is." Tempo said.

"Can I please kill this one now?" Mars asked impatiently. "I'd like to get on to the others before they recover from their awe at our power."

" _My_ power, ok?" Anima corrected with a grin. "I'm the one that was showing off."

"Why not let the rest of us show off?" Jack suggested.

"Fine, but if you're asking me to stand back and watch, that's not gonna happen." Anima said before getting ready to charge.

The other angels did as well.

"And yes, Mars, you can have that one. We'll take care of the others." Anima finally answered and Mars nodded in thanks before approaching the demon.

The demon took a step back from her and failed to hide the fear in its yellow eyes.

"What's the matter!? You still too weak to beat me even with the help of that relic!?" Mars taunted with a crazed smile that's very purpose was to put fear into her enemies.

The demon lashed out with its claws, which she blocked with her shield. The demon cried out in pain and fell back.

"It burns doesn't it!? Holy flame must suck for you!" She taunted before attacking. Her powerful sword beheaded the demon, and she turned to see her friends and the other angels wiping out the other demons. The mortals watched in awe as their masters showed their power.

Jack threw out playing cards the exploded on contact, Anima cut them down with his sword and fired out blasts of Angelic Energy from his hands, Tempo's enemies froze in place while he funneled his energy through his staff to fire out blasts of Angelic Energy, and the other angels joined them in destroying the High Demons.

The war went on for another few million years, then the war than was never supposed to end prematurely came to an end. That premature end led to betrayal, loss, and a few hard decisions over the next million years, all leading up to a test being done by an angel.

"Well… here we go. The moment of truth." The angel said to herself as she followed the ritual from writings older than she was. "But this is really only the beginning. I hope this will tell me what's so special about this boy."

The subject of that test was one unsuspecting seventeen year old boy on one of the Earth planets.

He was just playing video games and listening to music, minding his own business.

 _"Hero. Hero. I wanna be a hero. Hero."_ The music picks up. Indicating the bass is about to drop.

 _"Hero...Hero...Hero. Hero... I wanna be a-"_

He blinked, and that was when his entire life changed. That was when his journey began.

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 _("The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." –Lao-Tzu)_

* * *

All he did was blink and suddenly he wasn't sitting down in a chair. Now he was on his right side and he was staring at green grass in the middle of a forest. It was a very abrupt change to his position, and it felt very weird.

Then he heard the song he was listening to echo throughout the forest. It was faint, but he could hear it.

 _"Hero. Hero… Hero. Hero… Hero. Hero…"_ and then it was gone.

"What?" He spoke out loud after taking a moment to focus. He always spoke to himself when he was alone. People thought it was weird and he didn't understand why they thought that. Right now he wanted to just close his eyes and go back to sleep. Maybe this was a dream? He would rather wake up really early then stay in a dream. Dreams could become nightmares at any point. But he felt the cool breeze on his face and his long, soft, brown hair waving around. So he opened his eyes and enjoyed the cold. His eyes were green, but such a dull green that they almost looked grey. 'This is… real?' he thought, and pinched himself to be sure. 'What the hell happened?' He slapped himself twice to wake up. He could wake up quickly if he had to, but he wouldn't be a happy camper.

"So I'm just here now? That it?" He spoke into the sky hoping someone was listening. "So did I randomly travel through time or am I in another world?" He asked himself. He looked for the full moon that was helping him see so well, and found his answer. "Holy shit! What happened to the moon!?" He quickly looked around in case a wolf or a bear heard that. He would rather find a quick way to die and not get eaten by a predator. Unless he was already dead, then he didn't really care what happened to him.

Seeing nothing he looked back up at the moon. It was…broken. Most of it was still in one piece but it had pieces of itself floating around it. It looked like something massive had hit the moon.

"I'm thinking another world." He spoke quietly. "There better be civilization nearby or I should just find a cliff to jump off of. I won't be able to hunt and survive like Survivorman. I know that much about myself." Civilization or death. With these options in mind he walked in a random direction.

Thirty minutes later he finds himself at the edge of the forest. There is a small ruin in the shape of a half circle in the middle of the field/clearing. He walked into it and found small pedestals that had nothing on them. The place might have had a roof, but he knew it didn't now. Moss growing on it suggested this civilization is gone but he hoped another was still around. He saw a cliff in the distance, and larger ruins at the base of the large cliff.

With nothing else to do he sat in the middle of the half circle and looked at the clothes he wore. A tight, black, long sleeve that reminded him of something a knight would wear under his metal armor. He never owned this before so he didn't understand why he wore it now. If an intelligence sent him here, why did it change his shirt, but let him keep his light blue jeans, and his brown steel-toed boots? If it wasn't an intelligence, then why did his clothes change at all?

Speaking of intelligence, are there any in this world still? What does it look like? Are they friendly? What about the language barrier? "I'm so screwed…" But like last time, his questions were answered. A man in white armor that literally glowed approached him. He was bald, he had a sheath but no sword. He stood at the entrance to the ruins and you could see right through him.

"Hello." The man spoke with a peaceful and friendly voice. His smile matched his voice.

"H-Hello… Are you a spirit?" The boy wasn't normally good at starting a conversation with new people, but the man seemed so friendly.

"Yes, I am. I was slain at these very ruins." He motioned to the ruins we were in. Then pointed behind me. "That's my sword there." The boy turned around to see a sword stabbed in the wall of the ruins. He went over and pulled it out, examining it. It was a simple short sword, but it was very reflective, you could easily see your own reflection in it. He could see his grey-green eyes. The sword was still sharp. The handle was dark purple with gold highlights. (Picture the glass sword's blade from Skyrim)

"Wow." The boy said. "It's a beautiful sword. Sorry for what happened to you…"

The man didn't even give the awkward silence a chance to exist. "It's alright. I went down fighting."

"Who killed you?" The boy asked.

"No person killed me, it was a Grimm." The spirit answered.

"A what?" The boy asked, confused.

The man was surprised the boy didn't know. But was he a boy? He seemed to act like one but being that he's 6'3" makes the spirit question if he isn't really a young man. 'How doesn't he know of the Grimm?' He figured he wouldn't ask yet but instead answer the young man's question. "The creatures of Grimm are terrible monsters of darkness that lack a soul. They hunt mankind and destroy our creations. They live only to do this. How do you not know?"

"Um…" The boy looked understandably confused. "My world doesn't have anything like the Grimm. I'm pretty sure I'm in another world. Are there any people left in this world?" 'Please don't be some guy that's been dead for a long time and there's actually no one left. What if these Grimm killed everyone already?'

"Wow, incredible." The spirit said in awe. "But yes, there are still civilizations in the world. The Grimm haven't gotten us all yet…

'Wait, he just believed me? Didn't even hesitate? Doesn't think I'm crazy?' The boy wondered.

"May I try something?" The spirit asked. He wanted this young man to be able to survive in this world.

"If it doesn't hurt too much then I suppose you may." The boy answered. He seemed to mean well so he supposed it won't be too bad. Right?

The man walked up to him and put his index and middle finger against the boy's forehead and he felt something flow through him. Both their eyes were closed throughout this transfer of power. He spoke as the boy felt some sort of power consume him.

"I have been here for a few years, wondering why I couldn't go to the next life. When you came here I felt like you were the reason I hadn't moved on. I will give you my knowledge of the sword so you may defend yourself, and you may keep my sword. I became a huntsman at Beacon Academy, that's the light some distance past the cliff. You must go there, the staff at the academy will take care of you and train you. They can tell you all about our world and the Grimm."

The boy suddenly felt like he knew how to use the sword he held in his right hand. "Thank you, for all of this."

"I'm not finished yet, Aura is a manifestation of our soul, it protects us from harm, heals our wounds. Your Aura isn't unlocked, I will unlock it now." The man said before performing some ritual on the boy.

Sometimes every once in a great long while, a powerful person unlocks their Aura. When that happens, it isn't a glow that appears over them, it's an explosion of energy. The spirit had no idea that someone from another world could be one of these select few, but this was much greater than even those few.

His Aura came bursting out in a massive explosion that somehow DIDN'T affect the ruins. But the young man stepped away before it could. His Aura wasn't a light, it was a white mist that was flowing off his body. Waves of white energy ran through the clearing. It was a bright and beautiful sight. No point in being quiet anymore. "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME! HAHAHAHAH!" The boy shouted, laughing at the strange feeling. It felt great, really, and he wasn't totally sure why. The power he felt flowing through him really was just indescribable.

Meanwhile the spirit was in shock. "I've never seen anything like this! You have so much Aura! How is this even possible!?" The young man was enjoying his power so much that he hadn't noticed the pitch black werewolf that was now towering over him with large spikes of bone sticking out of its arms and back, with a bone mask and strange red markings on the mask. "A Beowolf Alpha!? Move!" The spirit commanded. He wasn't sure where the rest of the pack was but he didn't want to see the young man die now.

It's now known that the Aura explosion isn't what their Aura level stays at. It eventually settles down, but someday they may reach that level of power again, and maybe even go beyond it. The few that have been recorded rarely ever figured out how to bring that power back out though.

The boy looked up at the werewolf in front of him. 'I think the man said Beowolf. This must be a Grimm. I bet with this power I can wipe the floor with it!' He jumped up at the mask of the Grimm to slash at its face with his new sword. 'Yep, I definitely know how to use the sword now if I'm trying to swing it while in the air.' The Grimm swatted him out of the air. 'Oh, hello floor… I was just talking about you…'

The Grimm brought its right paw down to tear the boy apart. He jumped out of the way but it still nicked him. 'I'm not any faster at all! I didn't even see the first hit! What kind of crappy power is this "Aura"!?' He suddenly felt something throughout his whole body, especially his legs. At this point the young man loses his excited face and it's replaced by a serious one, almost angry.

'What is happening?' The spirit thought, he can only watch now as the brown haired young man fights for his life. 'I guess this will be his test. But why did his Aura drop? It shouldn't normalize this fast! But the bright glow all around him is a bit dimmer. There is a bit less of the mist of his Aura flowing off of him. Did his Aura… change him?' The spirit humored the crazy thought process and went with it. 'Did his Aura see that he isn't fast enough and permanently dissolve into all factors of speed? That would explain why his Aura just dropped, but surely there's a more logical reason than that. That would also suggest there is something like an intelligence in his Aura to know to increase his speed… Is that possible?'

The Grimm swung with its left, and the boy suddenly found himself behind the Grimm. He swung the sword at its left leg to slow it down. It howled in pain before it swung its right and almost backhanded him, but he quickly ran behind it again before it even finished its swing. He stabbed it in the left side and jumped back from another swing. 'No blood? Huh…'

It charged at the boy again and tried to bring its right arm straight down on his head. He brought up the sword vertically and the claws slid down the sword leaving sparks and the sound of metal hitting metal despite it being metal hitting bone claws. Its right was diverted to the ground and it swung its left at the boy's face. He parried the blow away. He then jumped away from an attempt from the Grimm to bite his head off. 'Okay, I'm moving REALLY fast right now! Just a moment ago I couldn't move anywhere near that fast. Maybe Aura isn't that bad.' (At the moment he moved as fast as Ruby but settles down to just faster that Blake at this point.)

'Wait, he wasn't a _Faunus_ a minute ago!' The spirit thought. Then he saw it clearly, a pair of cat ears that almost had enough fur to mistake them for wolf ears, but the tail is obviously feline. Both ears and tail were glowing white, and the fur was white. 'Cats ARE agile, I guess that's why he moves so fast now. But to think his Aura made him a Faunus out of necessity! Wait, am I actually going with this crazy theory now?'

The boy left white feathers in his wake as he dashed around at high speeds.

The Beowolf Alpha charged the boy again. He got ready to continue using his new speed to parry attacks, but the Grimm must have realized he was moving fast and decided to give it his all to kill him. 'Still, nowhere near as fast as me.' He parried all the strikes easily at first but wasn't sure what would happen if it got a swing in that he couldn't parry. Then it happened, it swung both claws at ALMOST the same time. The boy wouldn't be able parry one right after another so he braced for a hit. He wasn't strong enough to take it and was sent flying a good distance onto his back. He couldn't even hold onto his sword as he flew back. He was at least able to use the momentum to finish the fall on his feet. 'I… wasn't… strong enough to block that hit. What's the point of being fast if I'm not strong enough to block hits that I can't dodge?'

'It happened again!? His Aura has clearly dropped again, but it's still a constant mist flowing off of him. Where did the Aura go this time?' The spirit thought.

The boy got up, without a weapon, hands balled into fists. 'He wouldn't…' The spirit thought. But he did. He charged the Grimm determined to punch it. With Speed, his arms were blurs as he blocked clawed arms by pushing them away and, with Strength, striking with the force of a freight train.

After a couple disabling hits in the side and gut he punched the Grimm in the jaw with a solid uppercut that sent it into the air. His body seemed to be moving on his own now and he jumped up the 15 feet to meet the defenseless Grimm. With the broken full moon behind him and angel wings made of Aura, he brought both hands together above his head for one downward strike. He left some instinctual need to yell " _BANISH!_ " at the top of his lungs as he struck the Grimm. It flew towards the ground as a comet of white energy.

"That… wasn't his Aura…" The spirit said in disbelief. The comet slammed into the ground leaving a Beowolf in a decent sized crater and the bone mask was cracked. It started to dissolve but instead of black mist it dissolved into white feathers, like the feathers on the boy's Aura wings or the ones he left as he dashed around, but the wings were see through and made of Aura, they probably didn't actually function as wings. 'It was just a side effect of his Aura stabilizing, right?'

The wings were gone now, but a symbol now existed on the back of the boy's black shirt. The symbol was a simple white circle with angel wings inside the circle. The tips of the wings touched the circle. The entire symbol was glowing from just being formed.

'The boy will be fine in this world, and it seems someone saw the whole fight.' The spirit noted with a smile as he saw someone approaching. 'But wait, I need to tell him what I could figure out about his Aura and this… other energy.' "I have some things to tell you still, be safe." The spirit said when the boy turned around breathing heavily from the power he just used. Then he disappeared.

"What?" The boy asked, confused and barely conscious but clearly seeing the spirit leave. He turned to see a large man approaching him, then everything went dark.

"Well… this boy certainly has promise." Peter noted as he picked up the boy and began to carry him back to Beacon. 'What incredible power... There aren't many that unlock their Aura like that. We must do all we can to bring him back to his full potential.'

* * *

 **I cringed at some points when I re-read this before I started editing it. XD But I didn't want to change it too much, I wanted it to make the same point that it had made the last time but I still got rid of some things that I couldn't stand.**

 **For those of you who are just now beginning this series, welcome! I hope this first chapter hasn't turned you away. The second half of this chapter was modified from the first chapter I ever posted, so it isn't very well done. Also, w** **e will learn his name in the next chapter, and a bit about his beliefs.**

 **I had no idea that I would be going back to these chapters when I first started writing them… For all of you who have already been following me, keep reading this story for any changes I might make to the chapters. Also, don't worry, once we get through with the old chapters, we will begin doing new chapters, Fate is not** _ **just**_ **a rewrite, it is the real story!**

 **Well I'm not sure what else to say, so I'll just end it with this.**

 **This is the first step of a thousand mile journey.**

 **Have a great week everyone!**

 **It's good to be back!**

 **Sorry but I needed to add this in. (Alright, real talk. Anyone willing to be my beta reader? I probably won't ask for you very often, but every once and awhile I write something that I'm not sure is very good and I want someone else's opinion on it. For the rewrite portion of this I'm not sure I will need a beta reader at all, but my friend that used to beta for me doesn't have as much free time as he used to and having to beta for me would just take up his time, so I'd like to add a beta reader in case he doesn't have time. Maybe I'll even add more than one beta!)**


	2. The Plus One of RWBY Ch2

**I didn't check over this chapter as much as I probably should have before posting it, so... sorry if there are any mistakes that I missed.**

 **Here we are with the second chapter. Since I had a bit of a long AN last chapter, I didn't want to put anymore there, so I have two things to point out right now that I can think of. First of all...**

 **This first book is rated T because of bad language,**

 **And lastly...**

"Speech"

'Thought' usually OC thought unless it says otherwise.

 **Enjoy!**

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The Plus One of RWBY Ch.2

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The boy woke up, but found only empty white space around him. He felt the floor, but couldn't see it besides his shadow being on the floor. He still wore the clothes he woke up with in the forest, and he looked clean despite the fight with that Beowolf thing…

"Where I am I now?" He asked, annoyed, as he stood up. He was surprised to hear his own voice echo everywhere around him.

He was even more surprised to have his question answered.

"In your mind, believe it or not." A familiar voice responded.

The boy turned to see the spirit again, friendly smile and all. He was holding out the white sheathe of his sword. The earthling remembered that he didn't have a sheathe with the sword so he took it, and hooked it on his left side. He looked at the sheathe on his side for a moment and noticed it had changed color, and was now black with white highlights.

"I never stop thinking, how is my mind this calm and quiet?" The boy asked. 'I daydream all the time! Is this really _my_ mind?'

"You're unconscious." The spirit answered, but the boy didn't see how that answered the question. "Think about it. Why would thoughts be flowing around if you aren't conscious to make them?"

"…Alright that makes sense." The boy conceded. "I assume you brought me here for a reason?"

"Yes. I was going to talk to you while you were conscious, but no one else can see me but you and you talking to nobody would make them think you're crazy. So, I decided it would be best to speak to you here. Anyway, I want to tell you what happened when you fought. First of all, your Aura is… complicated. Without proper knowledge, you will probably never figure out how to fight. Actually, let me give you what I understand, it's easier than talking, and who knows when you'll wake up."

The spirit approached the boy once again, put two fingers to his forehead, and the boy took in what the spirit understood.

"So… my Aura is different?" The boy asked for confirmation.

The spirit decided it would be best to clarify the main points with the boy. "Yes, it isn't stable like other Auras. Yours is free flowing, that's why it took the form of a mist. You have so much of it though, that your Aura actually ends up stronger than others."

'Seems simply enough.' The boy thought. "How do I control it if it flows on its own?" He suddenly had the feeling that this is going to be complicated and/or take a lot of work and focus. Then again, he easily understand what others find hard to grasp so he wondered if he would be ok?

"That's the interesting part. You have something else besides Aura." The spirit pointed out.

"Oh? What is it?" The boy asked.

"I'm not sure what to call it, but after seeing your Aura give you angel wings, I'm going to call this other power Angelic Energy, or just Energy. It flows as easily as your Aura, but only by your command. It will look the same as your white Aura, but you can feel the difference. It keeps your Aura from flowing out through the canals your Aura would leave your body through. If you violently release any amount of Energy, the Aura can follow it. With a lot less practice than others, you could make an object with your Aura, you just have the outer layer of the object be made of Energy. I don't know that it won't rapidly tire you out though.

There is a clear relationship between your Aura and this Energy. Your Energy is a powerful offensive force, its behavior suggests it cannot be defensive, so your Aura took the full responsibility of being defensive. While anyone else would have their Aura doing both, your Aura can focus on being the best at defense, and the Energy on offense. But your Aura is still free flowing, and at the release of Energy, it will work just as well at whatever the Energy is trying to get it to do. I also noticed the Energy you used regenerated REALLY fast, so you basically won't run out. It's like your Aura will do what it wants by itself, but will gladly be commanded by something like the Angelic Energy."

"Wow, that's really important, I'm glad you elaborated on all that." The boy said thankfully.

"Glad you understand that. But my time is up. I'm sure a smart young man like you will figure out anything I missed." The spirit said before holding his hand out. The boy reached for it expecting to go right through it, but he actually touched his hand, and shook it. Then the spirit left. He was stuck in that empty space for a few more minute before he blacked out again.

* * *

The boy felt his eyes were closed and tried to open them, but his eyelids were heavy. 'Can't my Aura make me a morning person or something?' He mentally whined. He eventually opened his eyes, everything was white again. No, he was in a white bed this time, with white curtains and lights above his head. 'Seems like… a hospital room.' He looked at his body and saw he was still wearing the same clothes, this time there are some tears in them. Large claw marks… no bandages though. 'I thought that thing actually hit me, but maybe not… or maybe Aura heals you! That would be so cool! I don't feel any pain at least.' He looked to his left side and saw a small grey box with a button on it that said "press when you wake up." 'Or I could go back to sleep. No, I should hit the button, man I'm not ready to talk yet…' "Ugh" He grunted at the force required to actually turn on his left side and hit the stupid button.

The curtain opened only a minute later and he saw not a doctor, but a large man with a grey mustache that made it look like he didn't have a mouth. He was too tired to really make any other observations.

"Was expecting a doctor…" The boy spoke spoke slowly. Peter was told by the doctor how old he was, he looked like a young man, especially with how tall he is, but he's just tall for his age.

"Were you now? Well sorry if I disappoint you, but you're perfectly fine so the doctors were simply waiting for you to wake up, but they are on break right now so here I am! You've been out for 2 days and I have been checking on you between classes."

'Two days? That's the first time in at least 5 years that I've slept more than six hours!' "You have school?" The boy asked. "Wait, why did you check on me?"

"Of course I have school! I'm a professor!" The man was a bit loud for the sleepy boy but he figured he was just a loud and happy man. 'Probably a fun teacher.' It helped him wake up at least. "And I've been checking on you because I saw you fight that Alpha Beowolf all by yourself! Seeing as you have no records you couldn't have been to an academy yet so that fight was no small feat! I could do it blindfolded with nothing but my bare hands mind you but I'm a fully trained Huntsman! You should expect nothing less!

"Ok… Where am I?" The boy asked.

"You, my dear boy, are in the infirmary at the one and only BEACON ACADEMY!" The man threw out his arms to emphasize the point, knocking over the curtains and showing the rest of the empty infirmary and the other closed curtains. He looked behind him at the curtains, embarrassed for a moment, then regained his composure. "Can you walk?"

The boy stood up from the bed and found no problem with standing, then walking, then jogging around the infirmary. "I actually feel better than ever Mr.?"

"Port, Peter Port." He held out his hand to the boy who was actually taller than him being that he was only 5'8". The boy gave a firm handshake which was two reasons now that made Peter respect this boy.

"Hello Peter." The boy said at the end of the handshake. "So um, I seem to have lost a bit of my memory. Remind me, what is Beacon Academy again?" The boy knew Peter wouldn't believe he came from another world so he would play the "I lost my memory" card and hope.

"Follow me and I will tell you on the way." Peter gave the boy the sword that he had used against the Grimm and the boy sheathed it. They began walking through the halls of the academy. The boy noticed some windows as they walked and when he looked out of them he saw they were a few stories up and the academy itself was a massive facility of many buildings and there was a large tower at the center with a bright light at the top. Likely the name of the academy came from that light. "Beacon Academy is the greatest academy in the world for training future Huntsman and Huntresses to protect Human and Faunus kind from the Grimm. I am the main professor on Grimm and my class consists of lectures and my grand adventures as a huntsman!" Port said as they walked.

"Faunus?" The boy asked, wondering what interesting non-humans this world might have.

"Look behind you, my boy." Port deadpanned. He seemed to be looking at the boy's right side so he turned around to his right and saw… a tail.

"Whoa!" The boy shouted and jumped backwards towards Peter who simply sidestepped out of the way. "Yep! I definitely forgot about that!" 'I'm part animal!?' The boy thought, then felt something twitch on his head. He felt for it and found he had animal ears on his head. He was shocked for a moment but then realized how soft they were and continued feeling them. 'Wait! I'm petting myself, this is stupid! But it feels so good! No, stop!' He finally stopped and looked to Peter who had cleared his throat for his attention.

"Yes, it seems you are a cat Faunus. In case you forgot you should know that Faunus are looked down on and you may not want to show off what you just now remembered."

The boy was disappointed that he was looked down on for something he thought was so cool but noticed a serious irony here. 'I always made a joke about being part cat to explain how quick I was to react to things. I guess the jokes on me now. Then again I love cats so this isn't bad in anyway besides racists. Heh, it's as stupid as racists in my world. Skin color or having extra animal parts, neither should matter.' He came out of his thoughts to find Peter speaking already.

"…strides to make sure Faunus are treated fairly but people never learn it seems. Don't worry about the other professors though, none of us will treat you poorly unnecessarily." Port said.

"That's good." The boy responded. Peter never knew he wasn't listening at one point.

By this time they had gone through many a staircase, gone outside, walked over to the main tower, and found an elevator. "Right this way." Peter ushered the boy in and hit the button to take them to the top floor. When they arrived the boy realized they must be at the top of the tower. He went down a short hall and went to the one door available. Peter opened it and the boy followed him in. Then he heard a large clock above him and looked up to see the clockwork going on above them. He noticed there was a woman to his right.

She was blond, wore glasses, and had this strict, analyzing look on her face that the boy instantly took a disliking to. She wore a strange looking cape that was purple on the inside, black on the outside. She was standing next to a large dark table that was the centerpiece of the large room, it sat opposite of the door. A man sat in a chair behind the table. He had grey hair, wore dark spectacles, there was a fancy looking cane off to the side and he had a mug in front him that he drank from before he spoke.

"Hello there. Please, have a seat." He pointed at the seat in front of the boy and he sat down, across the table from this man who had a light but friendly smile. "My name is Ozpin. I'm the headmaster at this academy." He then motioned to the mean looking woman. "This is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Hello." Her voice was friendlier than the boy had expected.

"I hope my friend treated you well." Ozpin said.

"Hello Ozpin. Hello Glynda. Yes, Peter treated me well, reminded me about the school and was all in all, friendly."

"Thank you my boy, I try." Peter spoke, thankful for the compliment.

"Peter, I believe you still have work to prepare for the next year of students." Ozpin said. "You should probably take care of that. I'll take care of our guest. By the way, what is your name? If you remember that is."

"My name is… oh crap I don't remember… um…" 'I thought I hadn't forgotten anything! No one asked my name so I didn't think about it! How come I remember everything else except my name!?' "Wait! I remember… I remember I go by… AJ… Yes! I go by AJ!" He sounded sure of himself at the end, so Ozpin assumed this was true and that it was the best they were gonna get for now. "Yeah, I remember clearly now that I always went by AJ."

"Alright then, AJ. Do you know where you live? Do you have anywhere to go?" Ozpin asked.

"Um, I don't think so, no. I don't remember anywhere I could go." AJ said. 'I could say my parents died but I'd rather not push my luck when I lie.' He thought.

"Do you remember going to any schools?" Ozpin asked.

"…No, I don't." AJ answered, looking sorry that he couldn't remember.

"Refer to me again." Glynda spoke up suddenly. No, ordered suddenly.

AJ didn't like her tone but attempted to answer her question anyway. "You're… Glynda… Goodwitch! Right?" He said, hoping this would go well. It didn't.

"Yes and you referred to me as Glynda when you should refer to me as Ms. Goodwitch! You do not call an adult by their first name only! It's disrespectful!" She was clearly angry at him. AJ looked at her with a neutral expression.

"Glynda…" Ozpin started disapprovingly. "I know you've been having a stressful day but-"

AJ interrupted. "That's only disrespectful if you chose it to be." Then he looked away from her like she wasn't there. He looked at Ozpin now, but the friendly smile on the boy was gone and he looked at Ozpin with anger in his eyes and a deep frown.

"Excuse me!?" Glynda exclaimed, shocked by the boy's behavior.

Ozpin realized this was his chance to talk to the boy alone. "Glynda, you are excused." She wanted to revolt but saw this look on Ozpin that told her not to and she left in frustration.

"Now that we are alone," Ozpin started. "I know you aren't telling the truth so please, don't leave anything out."

'He knows!? How?' "What makes you think I'm lying?" AJ asked, acting confused.

"Our experiences make us who we are." Ozpin started. "If you really had forgotten where you lived, and what schools you went to, which are where we have most of our experiences, then you must not remember much at all. Yet, you very clearly have a problem with authority and you're very calm and calculating. You clearly know who you are, you know good manners, and you already have well thought out opinions of us. I could see you were analyzing me and Glynda ever since you got close to us, judging us by what we say, how we look, how we act physically. Things like that all come from experiences. The main thing though is that you aren't anywhere near as confused as you should be. You don't look like you have no clue about anything, you just look lost. I will admit, you are good at lying with the expression on your face, and not at all bad with your body language. You really would fool most people." Ozpin leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. "However, I am not most people, and I would appreciate if you dropped the act and told me what you were hiding." Ozpin was fairly sure the boy wasn't some enemy sent to infiltrate Beacon, since he seemed lost, but he couldn't be too careful.

'Alright, you're displeased, I get it.' "Not that you will believe me, but I'm not from this world." AJ started, figuring Ozpin wouldn't believe it. But, if he saw he was lying, maybe now he will see he isn't right? "I was playing games in my world and I woke up in a forest in your world. A spirit found me and unlocked my Aura, then I fought a, what's it called? Grimm! Then I woke up in the infirmary."

"Yes, Peter showed me the footage of your fight with the Alpha Beowolf. So by 'I don't remember anywhere I could go,' you mean you don't know anywhere in this world?" AJ nodded. "Well we have dorms that are meant for one person. You can use one of them, and we could train you at our academy. Even help you find your way back home if we can."

AJ looked shocked. "Seriously!?"

*Sips coffee* "Yes. You clearly aren't lying now, you have nowhere to go, and we could use a potential warrior such as yourself." Ozpin answered before chuckling. "Although, I'm not sure if I believe what you said about a spirit unlocking your Aura, even if you don't seem to be lying."

"I don't blame you, but… Wow, thank you so much Ozpin!" The boy thanked. "But um, am I gonna have to do homework?" AJ asked hoping but knowing the answer already. The world is so cruel…

Ozpin chuckled before answering. "No, I think it's unfair for you to be thrown into our world and then have to do homework. If you have good memory we will simply teach you what you need to know in our world and how to fight. Like all students, taking notes is a choice."

AJ let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much again! And I like to think I have good memory, sir. I'm sure I'll be fine in that regard."

Ozpin tilted his head in curiosity, maybe a bit of confusion. Or maybe it was the other way around. "You just called me sir… why?"

The boy shrugged. "I feel like you earned enough of my respect to be called sir when it's appropriate."

"What exactly did I do to earn your respect?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"You were nice enough to let me stay here when I had nowhere else to go!" AJ answered. "And you didn't think I was crazy when I said I was from another world, which I'll admit hasn't really sunk in yet but probably will as soon as I get some time alone to think."

"All I have to do is be nice to earn your respect? Don't you think that's a bit too easy?" Ozpin asked.

"Well, the first thing most people do when they see me is be a… I'll just say jerk." AJ started. "Anyone that's actually not a jerk to me deserves some respect in my opinion."

Ozpin couldn't hide his smirk. "You can swear. I won't punish you."

"Oh! Well as I was saying: When the first thing someone does to another person is 'not be a complete asshole' then they can't be all that bad. Heck! They might even actually be a _good person_!" The boy exclaimed.

"Fair enough." Ozpin commented. "Do you consider yourself a realist?"

"Oh absolutely." AJ said simply.

"Well, since I'm already getting to understand you better, why did Glynda made you so angry?" Ozpin ended up learning a lot from that single question.

They never got to any other questions before AJ yawned and that reminded Ozpin to give him a room and a list of rules for the school. "I highlighted the most important rules in green. I'll have Peter come and wait at the ground floor, so just take the elevator back down and follow him to your room."

"Alright, just one problem."

"Yes?"

"That shade of green looks more like orange to me." AJ said with a chuckle, then headed to the door.

"Goodnight young man."

AJ stopped at the door and turned back. "Oh! Goodnight Ozpin." Then left and headed to the elevator, passing an irate Glynda on the way. She then headed back into Ozpin's office.

"That boy is very smart." Ozpin commented as Glynda walked in.

"Oh is he now?" She responded sarcastically.

"Yes, and I can tell you why he acted the way he did if you're willing to listen." Ozpin suggested.

"Fine." Glynda pouted.

"Let me start this by saying he has a problem with authority. He had no problem admitting that. But his problem with you was respect. You are demanding respect that he believes you haven't earned.

"I worked to get this job! I worked to become a Huntress! How have I not earned respect!?"

"He believes that respect is earned, not given. He hates authority because all authority figures he sees demand his respect. You, like them, demanded he give you respect, and respect is earned, not given. He believes in common courtesy to strangers, you treat them as equals. Only when you have met someone can you judge them, and he judges based on morals more than anything. You didn't treat him as an equal, you demanded his respect almost immediately, respect you haven't earned _from him_. To him earning a position is not earning respect. You need to earn everyone's respect separately. He sees you as someone who, and you know it's true, gets respect through fear, and he says that that isn't respect at all.

He doesn't think that because you're older, because you are his parents, because you are an authority figure, he should respect them. Everyone is a human being, and morals are the only thing that make you "better" than someone, the only thing that would make you deserve respect. Why would he think that, you ask? Because he notices a strong lack of morals in everyone but him. He told me he is rarely biased, as opposed to everyone else who always are. He always thinks about how things are as a fact, he hates when people say a movie or video game is bad when really it's just that they don't like it. He hates it when people hate you because you don't share their beliefs. He feels he is the only person that will let someone have an opinion. He hates it when people say their opinion as if it is a fact. He would rather never say he is certain about something because 'No matter how sure you are about something, you always could be wrong.'

He is the kind of person to say things you don't want to hear. Like how you took his addressing you as an insult and he said you didn't have to? That's because when you think like him, that isn't an insult. 'We are both human beings, so don't act like you are above me.' He thinks everything through logically. He really is a smart young man. At the end of all this, I wasn't really surprised to find him say that 'The thing I hate more than anything else in the world, is stupidity.' I have to say, I agree with what most of this boy thinks, even if it will almost certainly get him in trouble." Ozpin finished with a smirk at the thought of the boy causing trouble with authority figures such as himself.

Glynda had nothing to say, and a lot to think about, so she simply walked out without a word. She would definitely have to act differently around this boy. 'Actually I think Ozpin referred to him as a young man.' She thought.

* * *

 **New year of students coming soon!? Could that mean the canon characters will be here soon!? Yes. Spoiler alert. Oops, was I supposed to put that first?**

 **The rewrite continues! Although the next chapter is twice as long as this one so I might not be able to get it out within a day or two like this one.**

 **Have a great day everyone!**


	3. The Plus One of RWBY Ch3

**Cringefest 2015 continues! Man, I really used to write stories this way!? Sorry for taking so long by the way, life had been mean to me for the last few days…**

 **Also, why does the next volume of RWBY have to come out so soon!? I need more time! This is totally throwing off my plans!**

 **Um… alright! Plan "Not-give-as-much-of-a-shit-as-I-was-going-to-with-the-rewrite-portion-of-Fate-in-order-to-make-up-time" is a go!**

 _ **WHO AM I KIDDING I'M SCREWED EITHER WAY!**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own RWBY or anything else I may use or reference.**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.3

* * *

'It's been what? Two months now?' AJ thought while sitting in an airship heading back to Beacon. 'I feel like there is something important I forgot right now. Ozpin said to look for changes after two months. Maybe that will have to do with what I'm forgetting? Ok, have I changed at all?' He turned and looked out the window and was able to see the city of Vale below.

He focused his eyes to see his reflection in the window. 'Alright… hair is still brown. Down to my eyebrows but parted down the middle so it doesn't look like I don't have a forehead. Clothes… same, added black guards to my wrists and shins, any blade will be stopped as if it hit another blade, sparks and all. It's just premium Dust sown into it though, still can't get over how useful Dust is in this world. It's sown into all my clothes if I remember correctly, removes the need for armor and helps me channel my Aura and Energy. I _did_ add this brown cloak with a hood so no one see's that I'm a Faunus, and I have black fingerless gloves, also lined with clear dust, for channeling Aura. Black shirt, black gloves, would look really bland if it wasn't for the cloak. Eyes… yes, vibrant green with flecks of gold. Wait, they just turned back to dull grey-green, which means…'

"Hello Neko." AJ said, still looking at his reflection. "What are you doing out?" He finally turned to his left to see an average size house cat with brown fur the exact same color as his hair, the cat's eyes were vibrant green with flecks of gold, staring at AJ intently.

The cat opened its mouth and spoke quietly. "Keeping an eye on the groceries you got, you just started staring at your reflection and I realized some fool might try to take them for no good reason."

AJ looked behind the cat and saw two bags of groceries and looked to his right and saw the other two bags.

"Right sorry, I don't think it will help me remember anyway." AJ sat back down in his seat and Neko laid down in his lap.

"Been an interesting few weeks so far huh?" Neko said.

"Yeah, Glynda kicked my ass repeatedly, put the training bots at higher levels than she said she would."

"Why don't you ever say we?" Neko asked, sounding depressed.

"Because I'm the one that feels it! Anyway, what else? Got made fun of for being a Faunus..."

"Don't remind me." Neko growled. "But then again," Neko started, sounding much happier now. "Because of that, I'm here!" Neko finished with a smile.

"Yep." AJ said as he remembered how Neko came to be.

 _One month since entering the world_

"…and they kept hitting me and hitting me! I tried to hit back but I was weak and I couldn't!" AJ screamed while he was on a large, secluded rooftop that him and Glynda had been training on for a month. But instead of training, he came to the roof furious, and Glynda tried to comfort him but he was too angry to listen. "And they kept calling me an ANIMAL! WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO THEM!" His Aura had begun radiating out in its usual mist form as his anger grew. But at this point it exploded. His Faunus ears and tail changed from brown like his hair, to white and began glowing white. "I am DONE being LAUGHED AT! I am DONE being a FAUNUS!" He focused all the Aura he released and tried to purge the Faunus out him.

"AJ!? What are you doing!?" Glynda tried to yell over the noise his Aura was making, but if he heard he didn't respond. Then the large mist around him rushed back into him giving a split second of silence before there was another large explosion but this time the Aura mist that blasted out was light green, and formed into a basketball sized mass. Then AJ went to destroy the Faunus Aura but passed out before he could. He no longer had his Faunus ears or tail.

When he unlocked his Aura, everything was in overdrive, his body probably healed itself so fast that it never tired out till his Aura calmed down. Now there was no overdrive, if his body was gonna make use of larger amounts of Aura, it would have to get used to these large releases. But the mass of Faunus Aura didn't stay, Glynda watched in amazement as it fell to ground and turned into a brown cat that was as unconscious as AJ was.

AJ eventually woke up in the infirmary, again. The staff there knew him from his few trips before and felt bad for how much Glynda pushed the boy. But they knew that this time wasn't from Glynda. Proof of Glynda's crazy story was in the form of the brown cat that slept in the same bed as the boy. Which AJ only noticed when he sat up and the cat fell off the bed with the classic cat cry of panic and desperate clawing at the edge of the bed before finally falling. AJ heard someone yell "Oh god! What are you- No WAIT!" *Thud* "Ow, damn it."

"Did I just hear that right?" AJ asked dumfounded as he looked down at the cat who, evidently, had NOT landed on its feet.

The cat meowed up at him angrily before saying "Yes, yes you did AJ!"

Neko then calmed down and explained how AJ had tried to get rid of the Faunus part of him and failed because there is still a tether that connects them. That intelligence that the spirit thought might have been in his Aura took the form of the cat, which being that AJ is creative until it comes to names, decided to name him Neko. Neko said he isn't mad about trying to get rid of him because despite being its own intelligence, he also shares a lot of AJ's intelligence and understood why he tried to purge him. It also meant the intelligence has a definitive form now! Neko can disappear into AJ's body at any point and AJ gets the more vibrant eye color and Faunus traits back. But then AJ has no one to talk to because Neko doesn't become a voice in his head when he does this.

 _Present Day_

"I'm very glad you aren't mad about that, cause you have a right to be." AJ said looking down at the cat lying in his lap.

"I said its fine! I'm as understanding as you are so you'll get no trouble about that from me!" Neko said while enjoying being pet by AJ.

They enjoyed the next few minutes while AJ looked around at the other people in the airship, they all look different for some reason. He noticed he had never seen these people before and felt like it had to do with that thing he was forgetting. Then the relative silence was broken by an overexcited voice.

"Oh I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day EVER!" AJ looked straight ahead and saw a blond girl with the rest of her clothing being mainly yellow, squeezing the life out of an oddly familiar girl in red. Who tried her best to speak while being crushed by her older sister.

"Please stoooop…." The girl in yellow finally released her.

"But I'm so proud of YOOOOUUUU!"

"Sis, it was nothing." The girl in red responded.

AJ remembered the girl and thought 'I'd beg to differ, that was not NOTHING.' The yellow girl continued to talk loudly and remind AJ of Peter.

"What do you mean!? It was INCREDIBLE! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bees knees!"

'Did she really just say that?' AJ mentally and physically face palmed.

The girl in red seemed distressed about what the girl had said.

"I don't wanna _be_ the bees knees! I don't wanna be any kinda knees! I just wanna be a normal girl, with normal knees.

'Well that's one way to put it. Don't blame her though, probably hates the spotlight as much as I do.' AJ thought.

"What's wrong with you? Aren't you excited!?" Yellow asked.

"Of course I'm excited! I just, ugh." Red looked down at her feet in depression. Looking up through her black and red hair at her sister. "I got moved ahead two, years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Yellow walked up and put her arm around her sister and AJ guessed at what she would almost certainly say at this point.

"But you _are_ special." 'Freaking CALLED IT! But wait, she can actually have a soft and calm voice!? THAT I did not expect!'

A few holoscreens popped up in front of the windows to show mug shots of an orange haired man with a few bandages and bruises on his face and still holding his smug smile despite that. It was a news report on Roman Torchwick. The quick alert ended on the note of "…Who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

At this point AJ stopped listening because a certain cat decided to hop on his shoulder. He had no problem with this, it just caught him off guard. Yellow and Red must have seen the motion out of the corner of their eyes because they were now talking towards him and he heard Red speaking to Yellow as they approached.

"Yeah, this guy was there when he fought him, he was all. Woosh! Woosh! Blam! Blam!" They finally stopped in front of them and he realized this wasn't just so they could pet the cat.

"Hello there." AJ hesitantly spoke to the sisters.

"Hi there!" Yellow responded with a wave. "So my sis says you were there when she fought that Torchwick guy. That true?"

"Yeah, your sister here did well against him… but Glynda seemed to think otherwise didn't she?" He asked Red.

"Yeah…" Red responded sheepishly. "She didn't seem happy at all about what I did. Which isn't fair! What? Should I have let them get away or something!?" She clearly was mad at Glynda, but it reminded AJ of a tantrum, she just seemed too young to be fighting.

"She made it seem like it was bad for the sole reason that you aren't a 'professional.' But remember she said she would send you with a pat on the back? When you are around her for long enough you see how she shows she cares and that was one time she actually made it obvious." AJ tried to cheer her up and it seemed to work.

With Red smiling again Yellow spoke up. "Oh, I'm Yang by the way!"

"And I'm Ruby!"

"Alright, Yang, Ruby, Yang, Ruby. I'm bad at names but I'll try my best to remember." AJ said to them.

Yellow now Yang, couldn't help but notice this brown cloaked boy with a cat on his shoulders forgot something. "Um, and your name?"

"Oh, right! Sorry, I go by AJ." He finally said, embarrassed. He didn't have to say his name much so he would forget that part of the introductions.

"AJ huh?" Yang spoke, clearly thinking of something. "Is that the initials for your first and last name?"

AJ didn't remember if it was his first and last initial but decided to make it interesting for no real reason. "First and middle initial actually." 'I could have just agreed with her but ok.' Neko had actually been hiding behind his head from Ruby, Neko could tell she would freak so he made himself visible to Yang and not Ruby. Then he slipped, revealing a tail behind the boy's head to Ruby.

*Gasp* "What's the kitty's name!? Can I pet him!?" Ruby REALLY wanted to pet the cat.

"His name is Neko, and yes you can pet him." He said with a smile from how childish she was acting. She reached out quickly to touch the cat which caused the cat to flinch and AJ to quickly stop her. "If you don't calm down you will not get to pet him." Neko meowed at AJ, who looked at the cat and nodded his head like he understood, then looked at the girl who he still had a firm grip on her wrist. "And he would like it if you didn't call him 'kitty'." Then released her wrist, which she rubbed a moment before going to pet the cat much slower this time. This time Neko seemed perfectly fine with it and even started to purr eventually.

"Neko? Really?" Yang asked teasingly.

"I'm bad with names ok!" AJ spoke annoyed that she just HAD to point out the name.

The news was suddenly cut off by the holoscreens disappearing and then reappearing with a hologram of a certain caped blond with an unusually welcoming look on her face. It kinda creeped AJ out. "Hello and welcome to Beacon." The hologram spoke.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"That's-" AJ started but shut up when the hologram began speaking again.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You are among a privileged few who have had the honor of being selected to join this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for the task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." With her speech finished the hologram disappeared, showing everyone the view outside again, Ruby wow'd and looked out the window at the city below.

"Look! You can see Signal from up here!" This got everyone looking out the windows and pointing at the small academy below us. Some of them were also saying "Look, I can see my house from here!"

"I guess home isn't too far after all." Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Beacon is our home now sis." Yang saw that AJ was in his seat and not looking out the window with them, he clearly wanted to stay where he was, and Yang just couldn't let him have his way and sit with his cat. "Come here you!" She grabbed the boy, who was much taller than her, in a headlock and dragged him over to Ruby before putting her in a headlock as well. Both of them now yelling at her.

"Sis! Let go of me! You're ruining the moment!"

"Yeah, but I'm making a new one!" Yang responded.

"Yang let go of me I am not your little brother!" AJ yelled.

"You are not little by any means big man how tall are you?" Yang asked, not letting go. Noticing the boy was strong and actually about to get out of her grip, she tried to keep him from being able to say he got out of the headlock on his own. "I'll let you go if you tell me!"

"Fine! Last I checked I'm 6 foot 3! Now let me go!" She released him and he jumped/glided backwards to the other side of the ship to his seat.

"Damn son, you're tall. How old are you if you're that tall?" Yang asked while still holding her Ruby in a headlock effortlessly.

"I'm 16." She suddenly let go of Ruby.

"What!? No way! You're pulling my leg!" He shook his head to show he wasn't lying. "There is no way you are younger than me and still that freakin' tall!" She walked back up to him and Neko realized he needed to hide from both girls and hid behind AJ's cloak. Then while out of sight, morphed into his body by becoming a white mist of Aura that faded into his body, no one saw anything. But they are probably going to see his eyes change color. The tail will be wrapped around his waist like a belt and he kept his hood on so they won't see his ears.

"Well I didn't really ask to be this tall. I just am. It's the truth rather you believe it or not." He shrugged. Yang realized she had no way to prove he was lying and went on to other matters.

"So what happened with Torchwick?" Yang asked.

AJ and Ruby both started to tell what happened so they decided to work together to tell the story.

 _A few days ago…_

Ruby was excited, but focused at the same time. Having beat up a couple robbers at a dust shop she was in, then chased the leader of the group up a building after he shot at her then ran. He didn't expect her to follow but figured he would deal with her easily. His escape jet hovered up to the building and he climbed in, it was known criminal, Roman Torchwick, same orange hair and bowler hat but missing his smug grin for once. He called out to Ruby. "End of the line Red!" And threw a red, fire dust crystal at the girl and, when it landed at her feet, pulled out his cane and fired a shot from it, a large explosion appeared where the girl was and he laughed in triumph. Then glared down at the spot to see Glynda Goodwitch with a large purple glyph floating in from of her as she stood in front of Ruby. He retreated to the cockpit where the pilot was piloting the jet and warned her. "We got a Huntress." She understood what he was asking and set the ship to hover and went to assist Roman.

The woman stepped over to the opening at the ship so she had a view of her opponent, Roman at her side. Only her legs and the lower portion of her dress were visible with a shadow cast over her, but her eyes glowed through the darkness. Glynda realized this woman was dangerous and prepared. The woman focused her fiery Aura around her hands and palm-striked the air in front of her firing a shot of Aura and possibly dust at the Huntress, who placed a Glyph to block the shot. The shot was easily blocked but the woman suddenly thrusted her hand upward palm-up, the floor heated below Glynda and she back flipped, a pillar of fire shot out where she stood and disappeared quickly after.

Landing on her hand, she finished the flip and took the debris from the shot and, using her semblance, formed the debris into a spear and shot it at the ship. Roman joined the woman in firing rounds at the tip of the spear until there wasn't a spear left. Then they both began firing at her, the woman fired her attacks much faster than Roman fired his. Glynda's purple glyphs couldn't take this many hits for much longer. Ruby saw this and switched her large scythe into its gun form and began firing at the woman, figuring she should stop the faster firing threat. The woman stopped firing and simply put her hand out in front of her and vaporized each shot that met her hand. Roman didn't stop shooting and the Glyph had large cracks in it and was about to shatter when a white blur shot out in front of her, leaving white feathers behind it, as it placed a slightly smaller white glyph that was simply a white circle with angle wings inside the circle. The tips of the wings touch the edge of the circle.

She knew that symbol and wasn't happy about it. Even if it WAS blocking Roman's attacks. "You were supposed to stay out of this fight!" Glynda yelled at the brown cloaked figure, who was holding his right arm out in front of him with his index and middle finger pointed out. "You aren't ready!" She yelled.

The cloaked figure turned his head and she saw the vibrant green eyes but she wasn't close enough to see the flecks of reflective gold they apparently had. "You needed help, I'm not about to do nothing when someone needs help." AJ turned towards the ship and focused on his Glyph.

Glynda knew you couldn't argue with him or he will show you how wrong you really are, so she focused on the ship and shot multiple purple magic missiles at it. The ship shook with each hit and Roman realized he needed to go keep the ship stable and went to the pilot's seat. The woman looked at this new opponent with little interest until he let his Glyph fall and shot his left hand out in front of him in a palm strike. He had no Aura build up on his hand like she did when she fired her attacks so she was surprised to see a white blast of Aura shoot out at her. She began copying the action, both of them switching between their left and right hand with each strike, and their attacks collided in the air but he fired his attacks much slower than her. (Imagine her fires as fast as Yang does with her gauntlets)

Eventually one of her shots broke through and hit him in the chest and sent him back a few meters. She waved her arm in front of her in an arc and the floor below Glynda and Ruby heated up. With a wave of her wand/riding crop Glynda threw Ruby out of the way and jumped out of the way her self and when she looked up she saw the ship was leaving. Nothing could be done now so she looked at the red hooded girl before her and was surprised to see AJ standing next to her like he wasn't just hit with a powerful attack. 'He's getting better.' She thought, knowing that his Aura would minimize the hit but his standing up and walking back calmly he did on his own. She just hit him a lot so he got used to it, she supposed.

"You're a huntress." The cloaked girl spoke, then got _really_ excited. "Can I have your autograph!?"

'Oh god,' AJ thought and covered his face with his hand. 'She's fangirling.'

Glynda just glared at her, grabbed her by the wrist, and started dragging her to the police station. If she didn't know AJ well, she would have grabbed him too.

 _Present Day cause I'm lazy…_

Ruby told the part of her being in the station and getting yelled at by Glynda and questioned by Ozpin before being asked if she wanted to go to Beacon and she was like "Yeah." and he was like "Well ok."

But, AJ had other problems, he remembered what he had forgotten. 'Oh shit Ozpin is gonna be so disappointed in me…' He thought in terror. Then brought out his Scroll, a small black rectangle with a yellow diamond in the middle, which he pressed and the rectangle split in half and the halves slid away from each other showing the screen. He found Ozpin on the contact list and typed a message to him.

"Hey Ozpin?"

"Yes AJ?"

"Did you say to get back on the ship BEFORE the new first years?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm on a ship and I spoke with that Ruby girl which reminded me… I'm on a ship with the first years… sorry."

"I suppose it isn't the end of the world, just head to my office as soon as you get back."

"Alright, thank you Ozpin."

'Well he took that fairly well. At least he appeared too through the text. Which isn't saying much.'

Story time had ended and Yang brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey you look… distressed. What's up?" She asked.

"Oh nothing much I just realized I was supposed to be on a ship before the first years arrived." He answered.

"So are you a Beacon student that is really late right now?" Yang asked.

"Instead of going with that, no, I'm not. I… I don't have a home anymore, I woke up in a forest with amnesia and the Beacon staff found me and took me in. So… I live in Beacon now, I'm not a student at all." He looked down, depressed that he wouldn't get to hang out with these new people who seemed nice enough to be friends.

"Really?" Ruby spoke with concern in her eyes. "That's terrible! No one should ever have that happen to them!" Her overly friendly nature mixed with feeling bad for the tall boy had her hugging him suddenly trying to comfort him, not realizing he wasn't sad because it 'hurt to remember.'

The boy blushed slightly at the sudden hug and Yang laughed at his embarrassment. When Ruby finally pulled away Yang stopped laughing and spoke. "You sound like you weren't that bad of a fighter for someone who isn't a student at an academy."

"Yang, I live in an academy designed to train warriors, of course I can fight." Yang scratched the back her head and smiled sheepishly realizing he had a point. He didn't hide the tone in his voice that made her feel even stupider.

AJ looked to his right, his eyes widened and he suddenly grabbed Yang by the arm and pulled her towards him. "Whoa, AJ not so fast." She teased. "You're not my type anyway. You are kinda cute though."

AJ tried his best to ignore her and pointed at the blond boy who had walked past. "He looked like he was gonna throw up so I pulled you out of the way. There is a bit of puke where you were standing. That would have gotten on your shoe."

"Oh, well thanks then." Yang thanked.

"Guys! Look!" Ruby requested excitedly.

AJ and Yang joined Ruby in looking out the window at the large lake they and the other airships were flying over. At the end of the lake opposite the city, there is a very tall cliff, at the top of the cliff was a few waterfalls falling down into the lake and large round platforms sticking out the edge for the ships to land. A large path went out from the landing pads to Beacon Academy, in all its glory, it looked like a massive complex even from here. AJ had taken this trip a few times so he wasn't as mesmerized as they were. "Oh I can't wait!" Ruby squealed. They looked out at Beacon as it got closer and closer. Then Ruby wow'd again. AJ turned towards the girl.

"What is it this time?!" He saw that she was looking straight at him. "Um…" She was just staring at him like he was some wondrous thing.

"You have really cool eyes!" She yelled. "They're really bright and there are these spots that reflect like gold or something! Why don't I get really bright green eyes like you!?"

'That's what she's staring at?' "How are my eyes cool!? You have _silver_ eyes! That is _much_ cooler!" He argued.

"No, my eyes are just one color, and you have _gold_ in your _eyes_! That's much cooler!" Ruby argued.

This was turning into a really stupid argument.

"She has you there."

"Shut up Yang you're not helping me here!" AJ complained.

The argument ended just before the ship landed with the sisters having him look in a pocket mirror Yang had and he realized how reflective the gold flecks in his eyes really were. He had seen real gold, and this looked like _real_ gold. So he gave in and agreed his eyes were cooler but not without saying that silver eyes deserve second place which Ruby happily agreed with.

'They never noticed the color change of my eyes. Good.'

* * *

They walked out of the ship now with everyone else except the sick blond boy who went to a garbage can to hurl. AJ stopped by and patted him on the back and said "Get well soon." Before continuing with the sisters out of the ship and looked at the wonder that was Beacon with the sisters wowing and AJ, standing between them, simply smiling at their reaction. He had almost forgot the groceries he had. The groceries were in his arms despite the sisters offering to help.

Yang finally calmed down. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this." She said crossing her arms.

Ruby however was less… calm. "Ooh! Ooh! Guys!" She starts pointing at people walking by and turns into chibi form.

'Oh god she's fangirling again…' AJ thought facepalming.

"That kid's got a collapsible staff! Ooh! And she's got a fire sword!" She started floating over to the other students before AJ appeared in front of her with white feathers appearing around him. He crossed his arms and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, he looked very disappointed with her. In fact, this was "The Look" that a mother gives when her child is out of line. Despite being a guy, he was REALLY good at "The Look" and Ruby felt like she was in a lot of trouble right now.

Yang used the opportunity to grab her and pull her back, taking her out of chibi form. "Easy there little sis, they're just weapons."

"Just weapons!" Ruby shouted back. "They're an extension of our selves! They're a part of us! Ooh! They're so cool!"

'Still fangirling.' AJ thought. Then figured he should help get her out of fan girl mode.

"Don't you have a massive scythe-gun?" AJ asked. "Aren't you happy with that?"

Ruby brought out her weapon in the scythe form he mentioned. She was hugging it… "Over course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones! It's like meeting new people! But better…"

Yang laughed a bit and pulled Ruby's hood over her face. "Come on sis, why don't you try to make some friends of your own?"

Ruby pulled her hood back. "Why would I have friends when I have you and AJ?" She pointed at said boy who was standing at her left side. 'I'm a friend?'

AJ looked at Yang wondering what her answer would be, and her answer definitely caught him off guard.

"Well… actuallymyfriendsarerightheregottacatchupkseeyoutwobye!" And she dashed by the two with her friends who came out of nowhere, in tow. Leaving Ruby stunned and spinning at how fast they went by and AJ watched unbelieving as Yang just… left…

Ruby called out hopelessly as she spun. "Wait are we supposed to go to our dorms!? Where are our dorms!? Do we have dorms!? I don't know what I'm doing…"

'I live at the school just ask me! Oh, wait, I don't really know either…' AJ thought. Then heard a thud, then a few more thuds, and turned to see Ruby had fallen on a cart full of luggage, a bunch of white briefcases.

"What are you doing!?" a unknown and bratty voice called out and AJ looked to his right to see some girl with a white and light blue dress, white hair in a ponytail off to the side, a snowflake symbol on her back, a pissed off look on her face as she looked at Ruby, she had a grey rapier on her left side, and AJ got the feeling she was some Princess, a bratty one.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Ruby called up to the girl from the floor. The girl clearly did not care that she was sorry.

"Sorry!? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused!?" She yelled at Ruby as she got up and gave the girl one of her briefcases back. She suddenly lunged and took the briefcase from her anyway, ignoring any generosity. "Give me that!" She opened the case showing multiple glass jars neatly placed in the case, each filled with a color of some powder, or rather dust. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

'Wait, Schnee? Sounds familiar.' AJ thought. Ruby was given a half second to respond.

"Uhh…"

"What are you, brain-dead!?" The girl yelled again. "Dust! Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy!" She had picked up a jar filled with red fire Dust and shook it around as she spoke, the cap wasn't attached very well cause the Dust was leaking into the air and it was in Ruby's face, she was gonna sneeze at this rate! "Are you even listening to me!? Is any of this sinking in!? What do you have to say for yourself!?"

AJ had enough of this and he needed to make sure Ruby didn't sneeze. AJ thrust his hand through the dangerous cloud and grabbed the girl's arm that was holding the jar. She looked at him with disgust, probably wondering 'why anyone would dare touch me' or some stupid shit like that. "Look, brat! Do you not see that cloud of Dust! If she sneezes it's gonna create a fireball and it WON'T be her fault!" Turns out there was a bit of irony here, AJ didn't see something either, the Dust he touched had turned white and it was spreading through the cloud. "Ah, crap."

"What did you do!?"

"I may have neutralized your Du-"

*ACHOO*

The sneeze turned the dust cloud into fire, but the moment the fire hit the Dust that had turned white, it went from a fireball to an actual explosion that sent the three flying in different directions.

The jar the girl was holding was sent flying at another girl, she was reading a book while walking (Don't try this at home kids) but her attention was pulled to the loud BOOM and the gust of wind that hit her and she saw something fly at her at high speeds, she closed the book and used it to block the jar and she caught it before it fell. She looked at the jar, which was cracked, and saw the Dust that was in it, she looked up at the large smoke cloud and saw it clear, showing three distinct figures on the ground, and there was large patches of fire, ice and there was lightning sparking throughout that made everyone present's hair stand on end.

The first one to stand quickly had his back to her, a tall boy with brown hair and cat ears the same color- 'Wait what!?' the boy quickly, and I mean QUICKLY, pulled the hood of his brown cloak back on before anyone saw his heritage. 'Someone else who doesn't want some things known.' She thought. The next to stand at a normal pace was a girl in a white and light blue dress who she recognized immediately, she looked VERY angry. The last to slowly stand was a girl in a red cloak.

They all looked like they just went through a serious fight, only the boy's clothes weren't damaged in any way, probably lined with protective dust. She walked over to the group and it looked like the girl in white was scolding the one in red and the boy but the boy seemed unafraid of her and was instead very angry at her, the girl in red was very afraid.

"Unbelievable! This is even worse than what I was talking about!" The girl yelled.

Ruby was pressing her index fingers together sheepishly. "I'm really, really sorry."

"You complete DOLT! What are you even doing here!? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Don't apologize to her Ruby. She clearly doesn't deserve it." AJ said, plenty loud enough for the girl to hear. 'This is also my fault not yours.' he thought.

"And YOU!" She pointed at him and he didn't flinch. "You are too dangerous to be here! So why are you here!?"

"You ask that like I have to answer to you or something." He then leaned very close to her and towered over the girl who was an inch taller than Ruby. "I'm afraid you are so, very wrong princess." He said in a very threatening tone.

"It's heiress, actually." An unknown voice said from behind Ruby and AJ, Ruby turned around to see a girl with raven black hair, a black bow on her head, and bright amber eyes with a bit of purple eye shadow. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

AJ had stopped leaning over the girl now known as Weiss but didn't bother turning to the newcomer, he kept glaring daggers at Weiss. He was saying her voice repeatedly in his head.

Weiss _tried_ to pretend he wasn't there and smiled at the new girl. "Finally, some recognition." She then glared at AJ to get him to fear her power but instead he glared even harder and his eyes started to glow white (for future reference, when I say the eyes are glowing, I mean just the iris, and it glows white but you can still see the real color of the iris behind the glow, just helping with visuals here!) and she felt fear overcome her and she was forced to look away and settle for glaring at Ruby.

'That was new, since when could I do that?' AJ thought as he felt his eyes glow and saw fear come over Weiss's face.

Then the black haired girl spoke again. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Ruby began to giggle, AJ began to laugh, and Weiss didn't know what to say.

"What- how dare- the nerve of-"

'Oh! I don't think the Ice Queen can handle that burn! I hope she melts!' AJ thoughts turned violent without warning, probably because the cat part of him was usually more… excited, about things. He was learning to control it though.

Weiss glared at the girl, took her jar from the girl's hands and left in a huff. At this point AJ had actually turned to look at the new girl who got Ice Queen to leave.

Ruby called out to the Heiress. "I promise I'll make this up to you!" She never even looked back and Ruby sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day…" She then remembered the new girl that had joined them and turned to her. "So, what's…" She saw AJ and the girl were just staring at each other, they weren't blinking or anything, they looked shocked about something, then after a few seconds the girl looked at his hood and AJ looked at her bow, they both looked back at each other and nodded in understanding before she turned and walked away and AJ looked back at Ruby.

"So… that was a thing." He said to her as if he wasn't just in a daze a moment ago.

Before she could ask what happened AJ's scroll vibrated, he pulled it out, looked at it for a few seconds and then sighed. "Sorry, Ozpin is getting impatient, I've been gone long enough and need to hurry, see ya later." He started to jog towards the school, then picked up the pace and disappeared in a trail of white feathers.

'Hey, just like my roses.' she thought. Then realized she was alone and sank until she lied down on her back and looked into the sky. "Welcome to Beacon…" She said, depressed, then saw a hand reach out to her.

"Hey." A friendly voice called out to her and she saw a blond boy holding out his hand. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." She said as she took his hand and he pulled her up. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

* * *

Now AJ was simply walking with Ozpin and Glynda as he was supposed to. They were heading towards the ceremony the first years must go through before they can explore the campus. AJ was walking to Ozpin's left and Glynda was to AJ's left. Glynda was, as usual, pissed off, but this time it was because AJ was late and not because of it being… well… Glynda. Ozpin didn't mind that he was late but reminded AJ what he already knew, that he isn't a student and he doesn't need to make friends with any.

Ozpin has tried to find out how to get AJ back to his world but that isn't exactly something you figure out easily. Who do you even ask to help figure that out? As far as AJ knows, he just appeared here, he doesn't know that anyone or anything willingly brought him here. With all the strange, magical artifacts found on Remnant, maybe another unknown one did this? They really just don't know. AJ hated that he couldn't be friends with anyone, but he wanted to get home and there was no point in making friends here, that didn't stop him from wanting, and he had a plan for how he could be friends with the students and hang out with them, Glynda wouldn't like it, and Ozpin probably won't either.

They walked up to the stage and AJ pulled his hood down further so no one could see his face, he saw all the first year students below the stage and got stage fright despite not having to do anything but follow the two professors for protection, that includes when they are on this stage. He knew the sisters had to be here somewhere and he eventually found them in the middle in terms of distance from the stage, Yang really stood out after all. But someone else stood out, and that someone was next to the sisters with her usual scolding face and holding some sort of pamphlet. They had just started walking on the stage and he could already hear the conversation with his cat ears.

"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss said.

'That bitch! Now I really hope she melts!'

"Look, uh, sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot." Yang said, trying to calm down Ice Queen. "Why don't you start over, and try to be friends, ok?"

"Ya! Great idea sis!" Ruby holds out her hand to the clearly unimpressed Weiss. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies."

'She is way too naïve for her own good. This will never work.' AJ thought. Weiss suddenly sported a very creepily happy smile on her face.

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails! And try on clothes! And talk about cute boys like tall, blond and, scraggily over there." She pointed over her shoulder at the blond boy that had been sick on the ship, who went "hmm?" in response to being mentioned.

AJ's ears and tail were glowing at the point when the sarcasm started, it was so blatant and it made him just want to tear her apart. They were standing at the front of the stage now with Ozpin about to begin his speech. Glynda grabbed AJ's left arm to stop him. "AJ do not go down there. You have to calm down. Ozpin! Start before things escalate!" She ordered.

"Before I escalate…" AJ spoke through his gritting teeth. Ruby had believed Weiss was telling the truth and she responded with a very stern no. AJ didn't hold it against Weiss that time, Ruby is just SO naïve! He still wanted to tear her apart. He also could have sworn he heard a large, metal chain being yanked on but didn't see any chains around so he decided to think about it later.

Ozpin turned on the mic and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the room. Everyone looked up at the stage to see the headmaster in his suit of various greens and his cane, behind him to his left was a figure with a brown cloak, hood on and hiding his face in a shadow, the figure seemed to wear a black shirt under his cloak, he had black fingerless gloves on, wore light blue jeans and had brown boots, behind the figure and to his left, Glynda with her odd purple and black cape. The sisters and Weiss recognized the cloaked figure immediately, Weiss and Yang wondering what he was doing up there and Ruby was less surprised since he said he had to go find Ozpin, but still wondered why he was there. Ozpin began his speech.

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far… It is up to you, to take the first step." Ozpin turned and started to walk away from the mic and off the stage. The cloaked figure looked at Ozpin, then back at Glynda who walked up to the mic for her own little 'speech'. The figure continued to look between the two as if he was making a decision, maybe if he should follow or wait? Glynda spoke now.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight after exploring for the day. Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready, try not to interrupt any ongoing classes, you are dismissed." When she finished the cloaked figure suddenly ran in the direction Ozpin went.

AJ finally caught up with Ozpin as he walked down one of the many halls of Beacon. "Ozpin!" He called as he caught up to the headmaster, who continued to walk but turned his head slightly towards the boy. "What was that? You seemed like you were on autopilot. You were saying the speech but you must have practiced it a lot because you were thinking about something else entirely while you spoke. Care to tell me what was so grabbing for your mind that you had to think about it during a speech?"

Ozpin seemed to think about this for a minute while they walked, then finally spoke. "You are very observant, as usual. Well, if you must know, I was thinking about your new friends. You seemed to get along with them, you wanted to protect them from people you didn't trust even if everyone would see it. I feel bad keeping you from them."

AJ was surprised by this answer. He did really get along with Ruby and Yang, even if Yang liked to tease, and he hadn't known them very long. That was really what he was so focused on? "And I suppose I was still thinking about the initiation. Let's talk about my thoughts so far on it."

AJ and Ozpin went up the elevator to his office all the while talking about the initiation and once AJ knew what it was, put in his thoughts on what they could do to make it interesting. After deciding finally on what the initiation would be, AJ realized this was the time to suggest his idea to Ozpin, Glynda wasn't back yet, she was part of the patrols to make sure the first years behaved.

"Ozpin?"

"Yes young man?"

"I have been thinking about my friends and how I can't hang out with them and I had an idea for how I could hang out with them."

"How? There is no time free in your training with Glynda to hang out. Besides, you aren't a student, they have things to do as students, they have teams that they are a part of, they… AJ no. Glynda would kill us both if I allowed that!" There was only one way, and Ozpin had figured it out.

"The initiation is tomorrow! This is my chance! I go through the initiation and I can become a student! I can be on teams, I can-"

" **WHAT!?** "

'Oh no.' they both thought as Glynda slammed the door open.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING THROUGH THE INITIATION! YOU AREN'T READY!" Glynda yelled.

"I AM READY!" AJ yelled back. "If you let me go through I can prove it. I'm better than you think. I'm fast, I'm strong, I'm smart, and I can easily beat a Grimm." Glynda believed he could probably make it, but she was not going to let him get killed by a Grimm if he wasn't ready.

"Ozpin you cannot allow this!" She yelled at the visually terrified headmaster.

"I can't allow AJ to just stay with us and never know anyone well in the school." He spoke in as calm a voice as he could, he actually sounded relatively fear free. "I am no closer to getting him home that I used to be. He should get to have friends at his age, hang out. He isn't an adult yet, none of them are Glynda. He could end up being in our world for _years_ , do you want him to be lonely for years when he could go through with this and possibly makes some friends?"

Glynda realized Ozpin was right. She needed to let this happen, it was AJ's decision and he is very smart. His logical mind would say no to this if he thought he couldn't do it. She had to allow him, as much as she hated it. "Fine. He may go through initiation. But our supervisors will not pull you out unless your life is truly in danger. We must treat you like the rest of the students."

AJ nodded in understanding. He knows the danger he's in.

* * *

The Faunus from Earth decided to head over to the training area and fight the training bots for as long as he could today, he needed to be ready. His enemies tomorrow will try to kill him, he can't hold back. 'Time to put practice into the many fighting styles I have, well, many is relative, more than others, how about that?'

He stepped into the large arena, there were seats above the arena for people to watch, but no one is here right now, too busy exploring the rest of the school. The humanoid bot stepped out, "Suggested fighting level and fighting style." The robotic voice asked.

"Level 8. One-Handed Sword." AJ responded and pulled out his sword from his sheathe. The sword had been changed slightly by his Aura, the blade was incredibly thin for fast swings, but wide to block easily. The handle hadn't changed, it was still dark purple with gold highlights. He could only hold the sword one handed but could brace his free hand against his other hand.

The bot advised caution with such a high level then pulled out a simple sword. AJ had been given the sword skill of a real Huntsman, he could handle this. "On your move." The bot said.

AJ charged at the bot with a simple upward slash that the bot parried away and struck at the boy's chest. He dashed away from the swing but the moment he landed he jumped back at high speed and stabbed at the bots chest. The bot blocked it but found the boy on his left, opposite the bot's sword hand, and the bot spun quickly and blocked. AJ swung with his left fist and the bot leaned away before striking at his left wrist, right where his wrist guard was. Sparks flew as the sword hit and did nothing. AJ pushed the sword out of the way and sliced the bots left arm off. The bot jumped back to reposition before taking a lunge at AJ, who parried. The bot stayed on the offensive and struck fast. AJ easily blocked with his sword as the bot continued its assault.

The bot at one point tried striking low and AJ just raised he left knee and his shin/ankle guard blocked the hit, sparks never stopped flying this fight. AJ switched legs, setting his left foot down as he spun and raised his right knee till he had his back towards the bot, his sword arm (right) went behind his back and held the sword flat against his back to block another stab, before leaning forward and extending his right leg back and kicking the bot, sending it flying onto it's back, it stood up quick as it could with one arm, but found a sword in its chest. AJ thought the bots stopped working when stabbed this way, he was wrong. The bot grabbed the sword, pulled it out, and threw it away. AJ now had to fight defensively till he had his sword back. The bot took advantage and attacked again. AJ blocked hits with his black wrist and shin guards or dodged entirely, if he was desperate enough he could move really fast and get his sword but used this as his chance to practice dodging. The bot may have moved fast but AJ was a blur with his movements.

Eventually he saw an opening and blocked an overhead swing with both guards, grabbed the bot's wrist and threw it over his head into the ground, then ran and got his sword. He let a pulse of Energy leave his body and his Aura reacted, a white mist began flowing out. He needed to move fast for such a high level bot. He now took the offensive and charged at the wounded bot that didn't know how to slow down. He struck front, then there were only feathers as he appeared on the right, then behind, then left, he kept dashing circles around the bot, which kept blocking but couldn't keep up much longer, then the Aura mist dissipated, he really couldn't do that for long yet. The bot was easily able to block now and follow AJ's attacks. AJ jumped back seeing his advantage was lost and waited for the bot. The bot charged again, another overhead slice, he forced one more pulse of Energy, and therefore Aura, to flow out. The sword came down and hit air and a few feathers as the boy was next to the bot already spinning for momentum with his swing. The bot had swung hard and fell forward as a result and could do nothing as its head was taken off.

"Alright… Next one." AJ said after slowing his breathing.

Another bot stepped out. "Fighting level and fighting style."

"Level 4, hands-only." The bot raised its fists to prepare.

AJ did the same but he showed how tired he was after the last fight. His body wasn't that used to using his Aura like that, yet. "On your go."

AJ dashed forward as he did the last. He looks like he never leaves the ground but he had just learned how to push off the ground while staying close to it, it's what really helps him move fast. He struck at the bot 3 times and the bot redirected each and socked him in the face, knocking him on his back. The bot looked down at the boy. "Move faster." Before slamming his foot where his face was at. AJ got one quick strike on the bot and knocked it down. He hit hard, but his style wasn't that great yet. He jumped on the bot while it was down and just missed it as the bot rolled out of the way, and hit AJ in the left side. He responded with a wide swing of his right and the bot ducked before grabbing his arm and throwing him into a wall. AJ stood up and began to charge the bot before stopping suddenly and palm striking, firing a shot of pure Energy into the bots chest. The bot fell when the shot exploded on contact. The boy and the bot met and exchanged a few blows before the bot got one, then another, then another on AJ and knocked him down again. "You're leaving yourself open."

AJ sighed and got up again. 'This is gonna take a while isn't it?' He thought as training continued for the rest of the day.

He was tired, really tired, no point in stopping now though right? Pain attacked his face as he met the floor again… 'Okay maybe this should be my last match…'

He got up and attacked the level 5 Hands only bot that was kicking his ass, it's probably because of how tired he is, he hoped at least that was the reason. The bot had its lower left arm ripped off, large dents in its chest from punches as well. The bot easily knocked him back again, but he refused to fall. He forced his Aura to flow out again, and he dashed at the bot, suddenly moving faster and hitting even harder at a cost. He was now easily able to block the bot, uppercut it in the jaw sending it into the air, then grab it by the ankle and slam it into the ground as hard as he could creating a small crater, then picking it up and kneeing it in the chest sending it upward again and taking his anger out on the thing by jumping up and hitting it back down, turning it into a comet of Energy, then landing again. He looked up to see the tour group that Glynda was apparently leading had seen his fight and were cheering and clapping, his Aura mist went away, and he passed out.

* * *

He woke up in a sleeping bag in the ballroom. He should have been out longer but it looked to be just getting to 'bed time' as first years were still walking around. His Aura must have helped him recover, which is odd seeing as it is what made him pass out in the first place. He should NOT have used it so much when he was just fighting bots, but it's what made him move so fast and frankly, speed was key to his fighting styles, which he only got to do 2 of… oh well. The more he used his Aura the more his body would be able to handle it next time.

He looked around and saw that Yang and Ruby were next to him. They looked up at him and smiled at him. Yang spoke up.

"Hey! You're awake! You okay? Glynda had carried you in here while you were out. We saw your fight, you have some powerful Aura!"

"Oh, that's what happened? Huh. Well, I'm okay, I haven't gotten to use my Aura like that very much and I pass out if I use it as much I did, and thanks, I know my Aura is awesome." He finished with a small smile. "So, since I just woke up here, where am I and what's going on?"

"This is the ballroom where all us first years sleep for the night." She said as she went over to her sleeping bag between AJ and Ruby's sleeping bags and fell down. "It's like a BIIIIG slumber party!"

"I don't think dad would appreciate of all the boys though." Ruby spoke up while writing on something.

"I know I do." Yang purred and looked at all the guys in the room who were showing off by flexing or putting each other in headlocks while not wearing a shirt. Then Jaune walked by in a onesie… Yang looked away and looked at what Ruby was writing. "So what's that you're writing?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." Ruby explained. Which Yang found the need to tease.

"Aww that's so cuuuute!" A pillow to the face was her response from Ruby.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends to school." Ruby said slightly angry. "It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"Why Ruby, I'm offended that you would say that!" AJ said with a fake accent. "Me and Yang are right here!" He said more seriously.

"Yeah!" Yang said. "And what about Jaune? He's… nice…"

"Who's Jaune?" AJ asked.

Yang pointed in Jaune's direction. "Onesie."

"Ah." AJ said.

"Anyway, that's a 200% increase in friends!" Yang said.

Ruby rolled over and was looking at the ceiling. "Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend."

"Ruby, there is no such thing as a negative friend…" AJ pointed out.

Yang felt she had to finish. "Yeah! That would just be an enemy!" *Earns another pillow to the face* "Look it's just been one day."

"Yeah, I mean, everyone around you could be your friend, you just haven't met their friendly side yet! Use me as an example. I was just chilling out in a random seat in the airship, then you two came along! Now we're pretty much friends!" Satisfied that he helped he looked around and began staring at one point in the room. A light suddenly appeared in that area and the two sisters looked at that point and saw the girl with the black bow had lit a candle to read a book.

"That girl…" Ruby said.

"You know her? Yang asked.

"Not really. She saw the explosion me and AJ were in but left before I could say anything to her… and she and AJ were staring at each other at one point. Hey AJ? What was up with you and that girl?"

"What? I have no idea what you are talking about." He said avoiding looking the sisters in the eyes.

Yang had a feeling, but wasn't sure what it was yet. But figured she could get Ruby to meet more people now, 'this is her chance!' So she grabbed Ruby despite her protest and struggle and dragged her over to the girl who noticed them approaching. Yang saw the girl take notice of her and called out. "Hellooo~" She sang. Now that she seemed to have the girl's attention, Ruby stopped struggling. "I believe you two may know each other!"

"Aren't you… that girl that exploded?" The girl asked.

'Off to a great start… Hey I was there too.' AJ thought and got up from his sleeping bag to join them. In a room full of people, he wanted to be near people he knew.

"Uh, yeah!" Ruby said, holding her hand out to the girl. "M-my name is Ruby." The girl did not shake her hand and instead went back to reading her book.

'I get that you want to be alone but at least shake her hand, or acknowledge her at all.'

"But you can call me crater… uh… actually you can just call me Ruby."

'Oh god I wish I stopped her now…' AJ thought as he finally joined the sisters. He decided to speak up.

"So miss, what's your name?" He said. The bow wearing girl seemed shocked at the new voice and looked up and saw AJ. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before her face went neutral again. Seemed she practiced being neutral. "Blake."

"Well Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!"

"And I go by AJ. I'm a friend of theirs." He pointed at the sisters.

There was silence for a minute while Blake and AJ, the quiet ones, waited for the sisters to speak. The sisters were trying to figure out what to say. Meanwhile, AJ and Blake were both staring at each other. Ruby finally had an idea to break the silence and went with it.

"Oh! Hey, Blake. Why were you and AJ staring at each other this morning? After the explosion." Blake suddenly avoided their eyes like AJ had done from the same question.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about…"

It hit Yang like a freight train. "Wait a minute… ALREADY! You two like each other don't you!?" Yang teased. Blake looked at her like she was crazy and AJ turned to her.

"What!? NO! Of course not! What the hell Yang!?" AJ yelled, blushing slightly. Blake was now blushing as well, and for some, unknown reason, Ruby didn't notice the teasing as she was caught up in some crazy thought which she just HAD to say out loud!

"Oh! That would be so cool! You both have bright and pretty eyes! Your kid would have the most beautiful eyes!"

AJ and Blake were both clearly blushing now.

""Ruby! Are you kidding me!?"" AJ and Blake both yelled, AT THE SAME TIME. This wasn't helping combat Yang's crazy theory, and now Yang broke out in loud, obnoxious laughter. And where there is fiery fun, there must be an icy fun hater.

"What in the world is going on over here? Can't you see some of us are trying to sleep!?" Weiss (Ice Queen) Schnee had appeared. Her white hair was straight down now instead of the sideways ponytail.

Yang stopped laughing and saw Weiss, Weiss saw AJ and Ruby, and AJ saw Weiss. This led to AJ, Yang, and Weiss all yelling """OH, NOT YOU AGAIN!""" simultaneously.

How that ended with everyone going back to their sleeping bags and no one being injured, they will never know. AJ was very disappointed that Weiss didn't get what she deserved but Ruby was insistent everyone just stop arguing and go to bed. The initiation tomorrow is important for everyone here, they needed their rest.

* * *

 **Well, not much to say.**

 **Actually, I should probably clarify that this is only sort of a rewrite. I really just copy the chapters, change them a bit, or a lot, and then post them. The other purpose of this was to merge the fics into something that was easier to follow, so that would be why I'm not changing much.**

 **If you like this fic for some reason, follow, favorite, etc. Don't be rude though if you choose to leave a review.**

 **Have a great day everyone!**


	4. The Plus One of RWBY Ch4

**So, to clarify, I planned on giving the chapters a good few checks (like when I post a brand new chapter) before I posted them. RWBY coming out so much earlier than I expected means I really don't have time for that. I'm gonna** _ **try**_ **to get these redone chapters out once a day until I catch up with the series so far, and then I'm not sure what I'll do next. I'm honestly still deciding between two different things to do when I catch up. So yeah, I'm kind of speeding through these chapters, and not checking them as much as I would like… Sorry. I wouldn't be rushing if RWBY hadn't decided to continue so soon.**

 **Not that that's totally a bad thing! I'm excited as you all are, I'm just a bit stressed as well!**

 **Hope you enjoy the chapter! On with the story!**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.4

* * *

"AJ, get up." A familiar voice called out.

AJ opened his strangely not tired eyes to see he was in a forest. A calm, quiet forest that made no sound, no insects of any kind were nearby, no wind was blowing, and there was a mist everywhere that kept him from seeing out of the clearing he was in.

He sat up and saw Neko was next to him. "Good, you're up. I had to get you while you were dreaming to show you this." Neko turned to the other side of the clearing and AJ saw two wolves, one had white fur, the other, had red fur. Not red like Ruby's cloak, blood red, a very dark red, it was snarling at the other wolf. The white wolf was lying just out of reach of the red wolf, which was held down by pure white chains that were wrapped around its neck, and stuck into the ground.

AJ stood up and observed the two wolves. "Where am I? Do these wolves mean something? Do they represent something?" AJ asked Neko.

"You are in your mind, again. I'm sensing a theme here… anyway. The red wolf here is pure instinct and hatred, chained down by your choice of logic over instinct. I needed you in here because you needed to see and understand this, when you heard chains, this is what it was. The other wolf is friendly and logical.

There used to be four animals, Friendliness, a grey wolf that behaved much like a dog, Logic, an owl, watching the three land animals bicker from above, Anger, changed between an angry bear and a rabid dog, and Instinct, a red wolf, red like Ruby's cloak. When I came to be, I saw them like this though, just two wolves. The white wolf told me what happened in your mind a few years ago. Anger fused with instinct, turning into a blood red wolf. Logic used this chance to chain them both down but wasn't strong enough, so Logic fused with the grey wolf and became friendly logic. Your choice of logic and natural friendliness either came about because they won, or was what made them win.

When you unlocked your Aura though, the blood red wolf didn't have to be repeatedly beaten anymore, because your Aura created these chains to pin it down. This meant that anger could affect you again though, but it was at least still held down by the chain. Logic knows better than to completely remove anger and instinct, you may still need them someday. Did you ever have a point when you weren't easily angered?" Neko asked.

"Yes, a couple years ago I realized nothing really angered me much anymore, just frustration when playing online or something like that." AJ answered.

"Hmm. That moment was probably around the time that things stopped being hectic in your mind, it went from four different animals, to two. Then Logic and Friendliness, now The White Wolf, beat The Blood Red Wolf that once was Instinct and Anger. Things really are much calmer in here. But again, unlocking your Aura created chains that would keep The Blood Red Wolf pinned down, but actually gave it more freedom to affect you, just not enough to ever hurt The White Wolf."

AJ approached the two wolves, White Wolf looked up at him and seemed happy with his presence. AJ sat down and White Wolf sat next to him and the boy pet the wolf which had beautiful white fur that was really soft, kinda made him wish he was part wolf and that he could have a wolf friend to pet when he was lonely, but Neko was easier to hide and make up reasons for why he isn't here, so it was better in the end. But he wanted to just use this wolf as a pillow she was so soft!

Looking at the Red Wolf it clearly resented his presence, and especially hated seeing AJ and the White Wolf happy together. AJ could understand why the wolf hated him, being ignored and neglected. But it wasn't what he wanted to be, so it had to be ignored.

"So, now that I have met 'The wolves of light and dark' can I wake up?" AJ asked Neko.

"Well, you two are getting along well, I suppose it's about time to get ready for that initiation huh?" Neko asked rhetorically. "But, do you get why I showed you this?"

"Umm… so I know that my so-called anger issues might be coming back and this is why?" AJ guessed.

Neko nodded. "Yep! Alright. You can wake up now."

AJ found his eyes were hard to keep open so he let his eyes close and rested his head on the White Wolf. 'The softest pillow ever, of all time.' He thought.

* * *

Among the early risers, AJ woke up, still in his sleeping bag. The sisters were still asleep but that Blake girl wasn't in the room as far as he could tell. He got up, did a few stretches, went back to his own room, went into the bathroom he had, saw his hair was black, took a shower, looked in the mirror again and with the grease gone his hair was brown again, checked the time and found that he had really taken his time showering, and finally headed to the cafeteria.

He was eating a stack of pancakes and saw some orange haired girl and a black haired guy with a streak of pink in his hair, were also eating stacks of pancakes. The ginger girl was talking fast and loud.

"Right, what was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together!" She said while there was still a pancake in her mouth.

'With my idea of partners you will be lucky if you end up with your friend there girl.' AJ thought, wanting to see everyone's reactions to how partners work.

"OOOH!" She said when she finally ate (inhaled) the pancake. "We should come up with some sort of plan! To make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster!? No, that won't work, he has a school…"

'No really?' AJ thought as he finished his pancakes and headed for the locker room like everyone else was. He was given his own locker even though he figured he wouldn't use it, and seeing as his sword is missing, Glynda probably put in in his locker.

He finally reached his locker that was only a few lockers away from the sisters, 'Probably Ozpin's doing.' and found his sword and sheathe were in fact, in his locker. He attached the sheathe to his left side on his hip and sheathed the sword. The sisters had just arrived and were getting their things so he said hi and sat on the bench next to them, walking by the ginger girl and her friend along the way.

The friend was still getting his weapons out of his locker. He seemed the exact opposite of this girl, he was very calm and quiet, but must have been very patient to deal with this girl, they probably have been friends for years, they gave that kind of vibe. The girl, for the hundredth time said "I KNOW!"

"We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! OOH! A SECRET signal so we can find each other in the forest!"

'I suppose that would help them make eye contact first.'

"Can you imitate a sloth?" The girl asked.

'Do those things even make noise?!'

"Nora." The boy suddenly spoke.

'Nora is her name? Gonna forget that in a couple seconds…'

"Yes Ren?" Nora asked.

'I guess he kind of looks like a Ren.'

Ren pulled out two pistols/SMG's with long blades under the barrels, and they disappeared in his sleeves. "I don't think sloth's make a lot of noise." Ren said quietly. Nora looked like she realized she would have to think of something else, but no, that would have been too easy…

"That's why it's PERFECT! No one will suspect we're working together!"

'Except anyone that hears you, like I am right now.'

Ren simply smiled and closed his locker. "Come on Nora, lets go."

"But not together, together." *Giggles*

'That giggle REALLY suggests otherwise Nora.' AJ thought, saying their names as many times in his head as he can so he doesn't forget that interesting duo's names.

"Wonder what those two were so worked up about…" Ruby asked without looking at AJ or Yang.

"Oh who knows!?" Yang responded.

"I do." AJ said quickly.

"So, you seem awfully chipper this morning." Yang said to Ruby, who was just getting her weapon out of her locker.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or getting-to-know-you stuff." *cuddles weapon* "Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."

"Ruby, there are others in the initiation just like you, you're gonna have to learn to talk to, and work with, others." AJ said.

"Couldn't have said it better myself little bro." Yang said and slapped him on the back.

"You're going with that now?" He asked.

"Yep."

Ruby groaned. "Ugh, you sound like Dad… First of all, what does talking to people have to do with fighting? And secondly, I don't need people to help me, I. Drink. Milk." She said folding her arms.

AJ burst out laughing. His laugh being gasping for air and that gasping being the only sound he makes. Ruby blushed in anger that she and her milk drinking were being laughed at. So she shoved him as hard as she could and he only just slightly moved, still sat on the bench, not even realizing he was being pushed. Yang saw this and laughed a bit as well. Ruby grunted in exertion and her feet began to slide and she decided to give up while she was ahead.

Being that AJ was still laughing/gasping Yang to up the argument. "What about when we form teams?"

"I don't know," Ruby said sheepishly, clearly realizing she was being backed into a corner. "I'll just be on your team, or something."

AJ recovered from his fit and found he was leaning slightly further back than he was and suddenly flailed and fell off the bench. The sisters looked at the source of the thud and saw AJ with his legs up and the back of his head on the floor. "If I fell on any other floor my cloak would be dirty." He said without moving. Yang held back a laugh and helped him up.

"Maybe… you should try being on someone else's team." Yang said, worried how Ruby would react.

Ruby got in her face and pointed an accusing finger at her. "My dearest sister Yang, are you implying you don't want to be on the same team as me!?" She said angrily. AJ got between them.

"Ruby, you can't hide with your sister forever, you NEED to break out of your shell and meet people. I still need to break out of the same shell frankly…"

"WHAT!? I DON'T NEED TO BREAK OUT OF MY SHELL," AJ stepped away from Ruby to let her yell at her sister and not him. "THAT IS ABSOLUTELY-"

"RIDICULOUS!" A blond boy yelled as he walked between the arguing sisters without acknowledging them. AJ knew he was told the name by Yang but couldn't remember. AJ listened to this boy instead of the sisters. Yang can probably handle her little sis, right?

"There is no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday… I would remember having to count that high… oh why did this have to happen today?…"

'Well he's depressed… poor guy, so much for getting well soon… seems things just got worse for him.' He would have gone to help him but found he walked by a red head girl in red and gold Spartan armor. 'Or maybe it's orange for all I know!' And next to this girl was… Weiss… *clink* *clink*(whatever sound a chain makes) 'No, calm down, she isn't doing anything right now… calm down…'

"So, Pyrrha," Weiss said to the Spartan girl. "Have you given any thought to which team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual, such as yourself."

'Really? Then how come I have no clue who she is?'

"I'm not quite sure." The Spartan girl, Pyrrha said. "I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

'Might as well, I mean come on, unless your Nora, you haven't much a choice on who you make eye contact with.'

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss suggested.

"Well that sounds grand!" Pyrrha responded.

'She was quick to accept that… Still, not their choice.'

"Oh this will be perfect!" Weiss said to herself and a dark Aura surrounded her.

AJ felt something in his Aura, like It wanted out and wanted to get rid of the dark Aura. So he waved his hand calmly in front of him and let his Aura flow out without any Energy to control it. A white mist went through the air and surrounded the dark Aura and collapsed in on it, removing the Aura. Weiss suddenly found it hard to think on her 'plans' any longer. 'Oh, blond guy's back, he doesn't look depressed anymore.'

"You know what else is perfect?"

'Wait… that sounds like… is he?…'

"Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

'Jaune! Alright, remember that. Wait… oh god he's flirting with Ice Queen!?'

"You again?" Weiss said annoyed.

'Guess those two have met.'

Pyrrha cut in. "Nice to meet you, Jaune."

Jaune pushed her out of the way. "Yeah, yeah."

'Wait, he just rejected the nice girl for the mean one? Idiot! What the hell Jaune?…'

"So, Weiss, couldn't help but notice your fondness of me the other day." Jaune said.

Weiss face palmed, as did AJ. "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Weiss exclaimed.

'Agreed, for once.'

"No need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams, thinking you and me would be a great one, what do ya say?

'Alright, wasn't gonna tell anyone but I need to stop him now. YOU DON'T DECIDE TEAMS.' AJ began to walk over to them but Pyrrha spoke up.

"Actually I think the teams are comprised of four students each so-"

"You don't say?" Jaune interrupted. "Well hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join the winning team."

'I suppose that works, if it makes him STOP.'

Weiss got between them. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking too?" Weiss asked.

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."

"This, is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class in Sanctum." Weiss explained.

"Never heard of it." Jaune said, clueless.

"She's won the Mystral Regional Tournaments four years in a row. A new record."

'Winning four years in a row has to be quite an accomplishment.'

"The wa?" Jaune so eloquently stated.

Weiss lost it at this point.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss yelled.

Jaune gasped in realization.

'Wait, he recognizes her now!?" AJ began laughing his usual gasping laugh, both at Jaune's stupidity and Weiss's anger.

"That's you!? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune said.

"Ya, it was pretty cool. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha said.

"So, after hearing all this, do you really think- WHAT IS SO FUNNY!?" Weiss yelled and looked behind her and Pyrrha and saw a brown cloaked boy laughing his head off. "You! What do YOU want!?" Weiss yelled.

AJ stopped laughing. He approached her with an evil smile. "Oh, Ice Queen. I want nothing more than to be there whenever you're angry or feeling down." He lost his evil smile to a normal smile. "It's just too funny!"

"Ice Queen…" Jaune said seeming to be thinking about the name. "Not bad, but Snow Angel is better!"

AJ stopped smiling and gave Jaune an annoyed look. "It wasn't a compliment…"

"Oh…" Jaune said hesitantly.

"Hey Pyrrha, get this jerk away from me!" Weiss said. AJ's cat ears and tail turned white and glowed, indicating his 'fight mode' and turned to Pyrrha who threw a spear at him. In a flash, like literally, an actually white flash from AJ letting his Aura flow, the spear was deflected and instead pinned Jaune to a wall be his hood. Pyrrha found a sword pointed towards her throat with no weapon in her own hand. This guy was strong, she respected him for that, but didn't appreciate the threat.

"Pyrrha, you seem like a really nice girl who had done great things if what Weiss says is true." The brown haired boy sounded friendly for some reason. "So don't listen to Weiss, she doesn't deserve someone as great as you to even be in her presence." He sheathed his sword, Pyrrha let out the breathe she didn't know she was holding, and went over to Jaune, saying she was sorry.

Weiss was absolutely shocked. She just stood frozen at what this disrespectful guy had done. He just turned around and beat Pyrrha! Pyrrha of all people! She began to realize that maybe you shouldn't piss this guy off.

"Test me, and you will fail Weiss." She realized she had been subconsciously reaching for her sword and stopped. She didn't want to test him right now to be honest, she still hated him though.

"Thank you." He bowed his head slightly and smiled, 'Why?' Weiss wondered. And walked away to the sisters who's jaws had dropped.

AJ couldn't believe he just did that. One: He never thought he would make that reference and be serious about it. Two: that Pyrrha girl was supposed to be, like, the best of all the students here pretty much, yet he just turned her spear away in an instant! 'Normally I would have thought that through, but I guess while instinct is chained it actually can do something, unlike before when instinct had no spot in my life. But I moved even faster than I thought I could! I wish I could control that speed and reflexes, but I already move faster and smoother that many so I shouldn't complain.' He really did have high reflexes and reaction time but even THAT was less than what he had just done. Ruby and Yang understandably were shocked but before questions could be asked…

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon cliffs for initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon cliffs, immediately." Glynda said through the intercom.

AJ quickly left to get away from asking questions and joined Glynda and Ozpin, standing between them at the cliffs, the Emerald forest below them.

* * *

The other students eventually reached the cliffs and stood on the metal pads laid out for them. Ozpin had another speech for them all.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors."

'Or two months with Aura speeding up the process on its own.'

"Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda took over. "Now, I'm sure many of you heard rumors about the assignment of teams."

'Or made them up like Jaune. Man, I'm getting good with names!'

"Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today."

Ruby looked distressed about this and AJ couldn't help but smile, and feel bad, but mostly smile. She needs to break out of her shell, this will help anyone else who has people problems anyway.

Ozpin continued. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at this school, so it is in your best interests to be paired with someone whom you can work well with." Ozpin smiled. "That being said, the one that gave me the idea can tell you. AJ!"

'You son of a-'

"Tell them how they will meet their partners!" AJ's heart was racing with the spotlight on him now. Throwing him under the bus is what Ozpin is doing, the smile gives it away, but if he can just calm down, 'I could consider this being given the punch line.'

AJ cleared his throat and tried to stop visibly shaking. "The first person you m-make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT!" Ruby yelled, and reminded AJ why he did this, so he could laugh. Which he did at first from Ruby's reaction.

"AJ!? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?"

AJ stopped laughing for one second. "Because your reaction!" Was all he could say before he started laughing again.

With AJ no longer with them, Ozpin had to continue. "After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest."

Glynda was glaring at AJ who wouldn't stop.

"You will meet opposition along the way."

Glynda waved her wand and threw AJ to Ozpin's left away from the group. AJ stood up, and was barely laughing now.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…"

Glynda waved her wand straight at AJ using her semblance to push him back, but he had been shoved by Glynda many times, and he let out his Aura towards Glynda and the Aura stopped the invisible force, making it visible as something the mist pushed against. Both AJ and Glynda seemed to be pushing as hard as they could despite not touching anything. The white mist wasn't gaining or losing ground, suggesting him and Glynda were at a stalemate.

"Or you will die." Ozpin finished, then saw that everyone was looking to his left and saw Glynda and AJ fighting again. "Children!" Ozpin said in a scolding manner.

AJ looked at Ozpin and Glynda looked over her shoulder, there was a pause, then Glynda spun around and looked at Ozpin as if she was a child that was caught. Giving a smile that clearly showed she was scared. AJ shoved something to his right as hard as he could and an invisible force tore a nearby tree off the ground, and he spun at the same time Glynda did, sporting the same smile. They looked like siblings that fight until their parents look at them and then they stand with their hands behind their backs with fake smiles until the parents turn away, but instead of continuing the fight, Glynda and AJ just stick their tongues out at each other in the most childish way that Ozpin would have been shocked if he saw it.

Ozpin went back to his speech. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple"

The image of the ruin AJ found when he met the spirit forced its way into the Earthling's mind.

"at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair chooses one relic, then you must return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as yourselves, along the way and be graded appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune had looked worried since the mention of death and clearly had a question. "Yeah, um, Sir?"

"Good!" Ozpin cut Jaune off and blatantly ignored him. "Now, take your positions. Whatever your landing strategy may be, you will need it."

Everyone but Jaune got ready to be sent into the forest via the pads they were on launching them in. Jaune was still raising his hand.

"Um… Sir… I got a-uh… um… a question…"

'Spit it out already!'

"So um this, Landing strategy thing. Um, what is it? You're like, dropping us off or, something?"

'Well… he's dead.'

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin said as students were being launched off and the launchings are getting closer and closer to Jaune the last one soon-to-be-off.

"Oh… I see…" Jaune said he scratched the back of his head. "Did you, like, hand out parachutes?"

"Jaune… look to your left." AJ said. "Do you see any parachutes?" Jaune saw the next student, Nora, get sent flying. He gulped in nervousness. "You have to use your own landing strategy." AJ said.

"Uh huh…" AJ realized the only ones left besides Jaune were the sisters and Yang put on some black aviators before she went flying, Ruby confidently looked at Jaune before launching off as well, then there was an oddly long pause before Jaune went.

"So, what exactly is a landing strateGEYYYYYYYYYY!" Jaune was finally launched as well.

With all the students now flying away AJ looked at Ozpin and saw him sip his mug and smile. 'He enjoys their suffering as well.' AJ thought.

Now Ozpin, AJ, and Glynda all got out their scrolls and began looking through cameras. AJ looked at the number of different cameras. "H-how many thousand!?" He turned to Ozpin.

"It's a large forest."

"How do we even manually go through all of these!?"

"We don't." Ozpin started. "Just press the name of one of the students. The system finds the cameras with the best view and shows them to you so you may choose which one to view. Don't bother doing it yet though, they haven't landed yet."

Another minute passes and the three begin walking around mindlessly as they view the students through the scrolls. Ozpin has all students on multiple little screens at times and sometimes zooms in on one student slightly and sometimes has a student take up the whole screen. AJ always has one student take up the whole screen and switches between students. Glynda maintains a view of all students at all times, rarely even zooming in slightly on one student, never giving one full focus like the other two would.

AJ watches Pyrrha throw her spear at Jaune as he flies by. Later hearing a "thank you!" in the distance. 'I guess he ISN'T dead.' He looks to his left and sees Ozpin has slightly enlarged Ruby's screen and decides to turn to Glynda. "So, you never actually told me. When am I going in with them?" He asked Glynda.

"If you end up passing by someone you'll end up their partner, and seeing as you being here creates an extra student, you will have to wait until everyone has found their partner. We don't want a fairly enrolled student without a partner." Glynda finished.

"Hmm… smart. Fair enough then, I'll wait." AJ said and went back to his Scroll. He saw on Ozpin's Scroll that Ruby had ran into Weiss who turned and walked away from her. He prayed for her safety and found Jaune on his own Scroll. 'Oh, hey, Weiss found him in a tree. Oh, and she walked away, right back to Ruby. THERE'S Pyrrha!'

"So," Pyrrha said, looking up at Jaune who is pinned by her weapon, again. "Any spots left on your team?"

"Very funny." Jaune said looking away from her, before dropping the act and smiling back down to her.

'Alright love birds, I'll find another group.' AJ thought as he zoomed out of their cameras and found another student on the list. "That's two groups already. At this rate I'll be down there pretty soon." He said out loud in case either professors didn't know, which they probably did, they are using the same cameras.

He pressed Yang's name to see what she was doing, which was walking blindly through the forest calling out.

"Hellooooo!? Is anyone out there!? Hellooooo!? I'm getting bored here!"

'Keep yelling and you won't be bored for much longer.'

Rustling in the bushes got her attention. "Is someone there? Ruby is that you?" She parted the bushes, then looked up. "Nope." She said before jumping away from an Ursa. Just like the Beowolf. Pitch black, bone spikes, the weird bone mask, but it's a big bear instead of a werewolf. Yang activated her Gauntlets. Another Ursa jumped out at her and she jumped out of the way, now the Ursa were side by side preparing to attack her.

The first jumped at her and she punched it in the gut, then her gauntlets fired and shot the Ursa away and a shotgun shell came out of her gauntlets.

'Interesting weapons.'

The second charged. She uppercuted it in the jaw, firing another shot. Then firing a shot from her other hand away from her opponent putting more momentum into her kick which sent the Ursa back to its partner.

"You guys wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood would you?" Yang asked the Ursa, who both roared at her. "You could have just said no." Yang said before jumping back from two swipes. "Jeez! You guys couldn't hit the broad side of a b-" She stopped and saw one single yellow hair fall in front of her. "You…" She closed her blue eyes.

'Oh she's pissed.'

She opened her eyes again and they were light red. The two Grimm actually looked at each other and made a confused sound. "YOU MONSTER!" Fire exploded around her and she charged one of the Grimm and smashed into it, hitting it with punch after fire-and-shotgun-filled punch. Until one final strike sent it barreling away in a trail of fire. The other Ursa approached and stopped in front of her, red eyes meeting angry red eyes. "WHAT!? YOU WANT SOME TOO!?" Yang yelled at the Ursa.

'All this over one hair? So….. _stupid_ ….'

The Grimm suddenly fell dead revealing Blake behind it, her weapon, attached to a ribbon wrapped around her arm stabbed into the Grimm's back. She pulled her weapon back and sheathed it behind her. She smiled at Yang who was back to her blue eyes.

"I could have taken em'." Yang said.

AJ saw Ozpin was watching Weiss fighting a pack Beowolfs and he decided to go back to Jaune and see if Pyrrha kept him from dying yet. He caught Pyrrha moving a branch out of her way which flung back and hit Jaune in the face. 'Glad I switched just in time for that moment.' AJ thought with a laugh.

"Jaune! Sorry." Pyrrha said to the boy as she helped him up.

"Ah, its ok. Just a scratch!" Jaune said.

"Why didn't you activate your Aura?"

"My what?"

"Aura."

"Bless you." (Couldn't find how to spell that word)

"Jaune… Do you, know what Aura is?" Pyrrha asked.

"Of course! Do YOU know what Aura is?" Jaune was clearly lying.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul." Pyrrha started. "It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Did you ever feel like you were being watched when you didn't know anyone was there?"

"Uh, yeah."

Oddly enough, AJ saw Glynda watching Ren on her Scroll and he seemed to just realize something was there. The black head of a King Taijitu snake appeared behind him and he fought it while Pyrrha explained Aura.

"With practice, Aura can be our shield. Everyone has Aura, even animals."

"What about monsters?" Jaune asked.

"No. The creatures we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm." Ren took a strong head butt from the black head but landed easily. "The manifestations of anonymity." The black head of the snake surrounded Ren and he pulled out his dual SMG's and jumped out of the coil, firing at the snake. "They are the darkness and we are the light." Ren kicked the black snake in the head before knocking it down again. Then it lunged to bite him again. He dodged and stabbed it in the head.

"Right. That's why we fight them." Jaune said.

"It's not about why. It's about knowing. Understanding the dark and light is what helps manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both." The white head of the snake revealed itself and the black head got back up again. "By barring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm." Ren was sliding along the snakes body and firing at it. The white head hit him in mid-air and he lost his weapons. "All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You project yourself and your soul when fighting."

Ren got up just in time to see the black head lunge to bite him. "NO!" He yelled.

"It's like a force field!" Jaune realized.

"Yes. If you want to look at it that way." Ren had blocked the fangs of the head with his hands pulsing with Aura. He snapped the fangs off and stabbed it in the eye with one. He used the Aura in his hands for a powerful strike that drove the fang further in and the head exploded from the force. He then charged at the white head.

Pyrrha walked up to Jaune. "Close your eyes and concentrate."

"Uh… Ok…" He hesitantly closed his eyes.

Pyrrha began glowing lightly from her Aura and Jaune began glowing brightly with his white Aura.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite and distant and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

'I didn't get a cool speech when I unlocked my Aura…' AJ whined.

Pyrrha almost fell from exhaustion.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune said, concerned.

"It's alright. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it."

Jaune looked to see the glow around him fade away. "Wow…." He said.

AJ was so focused on this that when he looked back to Glynda and her Scroll Ren was standing on the King Taijitu's corpse. He had won. 'Good for him.' A sound that somewhat resembled a bird in AJ's opinion was heard. Ren looked and saw Nora appear from a tree upside down.

"I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like." Ren said.

His response was Nora poking him in the nose and saying "Boop!" which got Ren to smile.

Glynda and AJ approached Ozpin, who was at the edge of the cliff still looking at his Scroll. "The last pair has been formed!" AJ said, excitement evident in his voice.

"Yes, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy, I can't possibly imagine those two getting along."

"I wouldn't think so either." AJ said. "But it clearly seams that they are old friends."

"True. He is still probably better off that Miss Nikos."

"I agree." AJ said. This alone shocked Glynda and Ozpin but only Glynda showed it. AJ continued. "He clearly isn't cut out for this yet. He seems to have very little training."

Glynda nodded in agreement. "Well AJ, I believe it's time for you to get ready to head in. At their current pace they will reach the temple in just a few minutes, so you have some catching up to do."

"Alright! I'll catch up in no time!" AJ said with confidence.

"Speaking of the temple, what did you use for relics this year?….. Professor Ozpin?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin wasn't even listening, he was still looking at his Scroll. AJ stopped getting ready to see what was so interesting. It was Weiss and Ruby. Every time he checked on Ozpin he was looking at Ruby and Weiss. 'What is so special about Ruby anyway? She's nice and clearly capable of this level of combat but why?' Ruby was sitting cross-legged messing with a leaf and Weiss was walking around behind her. The look on Ruby's face said "I'm so done with this."

"It's this way." Weiss walked away, then came back. "No, it's this way. Definitely this way." She walked up to Ruby who stood up. "Alright, its official… We passed it." Weiss said.

"Why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby asked.

"Because I know EXACTLY where we're going. We're…. going…. To the forest temple!" Ruby groaned in annoyance. "Oh stop it! You don't know where we are either!" Weiss yelled.

"Well, at least I'm not pretending like I know everything!" Ruby yelled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

'Oh no, you heard her right Ice Queen.'

"It means you're a big, stupid, JERK and I HATE YOU!"

'Wow, she finally got to Ruby.'

"Just keep moving." Weiss ordered.

Ruby did a mock princess voice. "Wah, just keep moving. Hurry uuuup! Waah waah wah. Watch where you're going!" She goes back to her own voice. "Why are you so bossy!?"

"I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that!" Weiss said back.

"Stop treating me like a kid!" Ruby yelled.

"Stop acting like a kid!" Weiss yelled back.

"Well stop acting like you're PERFECT!" Ruby

"I'm. Not. Perfect!" Weiss argued.

'At least she recognizes that.'

"Not yet…" Weiss finished.

AJ walked away from Ozpin and stood at the very edge of the cliff. Aura was leaking out. He was visually shaking with rage. His hands were bleeding because of his nails stabbing his hands, he had them in very tight fists. What Weiss said kept repeating in his head. 'She actually thinks she can be perfect!? That bitch! That Bitch!' "THAT BITCH!" AJ let a massive amount of Aura, a lot more than usual, knocking Ozpin and Glynda a large distance away. Glynda got up and went to stop him.

"IM GONNA GIVE HER A PIECE OF MY MIND THAT IDIOT! FUCKING BRAT! **AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!"** Despite the amount of Aura he had just let out, he exploded even more Aura, knocking Glynda down again. He couldn't stop violently shaking with rage. He could hear the chains being pulled on repeatedly in his head, but then he heard something else, a click, like something just unlocked.

He saw a bow made of Aura appear in front of him, it shouldn't be able to stay in such a stable form when it's just made of Aura, but it was, no outer layer of Energy holding its shape. He grabbed the bow and an arrow made of Aura appeared as well. He tried to pull the arrow back but it seemed to require a lot of force, so he focused a large portion of the Aura that is flying everywhere into pulling the thing back. "AAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" He yelled in exertion, now the Aura flowed from him just a bit more than normal. He suddenly felt like it was easy to make this motion again, as if the string was simply stiff from never being pulled and next time it will be as easy as any other bow. Now he pointed the bow in the direction of the pillar of smoke in the distance, and released.

All Ozpin and Glynda saw was AJ disappear. All AJ saw was he was suddenly in the air over the pillar of smoke in the forest. 'Why am I in the air!? OH GOD IM FALLING!' "I DON'T HAVE A LANDING STRATEGY EITHER!" He yelled as he fell into the forest.

What actually happened? The arrow flew perfectly straight at the speed of light, and popped where he wanted the arrow to go. Not that he knew the arrow would teleport him when it 'popped'. Even he doesn't see the arrow fly, all anyone sees is him disappear and reappear in another area instantly.

Basically, he points the bow, and suddenly appears where he's pointing the bow.

AJ now wished he had a parachute. Then he remembered the bow and willed it to appear, again, a pure white bow made of Aura. He pulled back the Aura arrow and released. He found himself standing in the middle of an area that had just burned, flames were still common in the area, oh, and he's in the middle of a pack of Beowolfs. The ones Ruby and Weiss fought. Not that he knows that. They all stood surprised at the sudden appearance for a moment, then prepared to attack.

AJ could take these guys no problem with his sword, and he still has Aura flowing out right now so this is just too easy. His thoughts about killing Weiss are a bit over the top, he admitted. Sure, he still wanted to yell at Weiss for being stupid enough to think she can be perfect, but he can just take it out on these Grimm, then no one has to die.

He got his best German accent, and got a very scary/evil smile. "Oh hello everyone! I. Am Za Docta! ITS TIME TO **RUUUUN!** "

A white blur went through the group and cut them all down, some in half, some missing heads, all of them missing at least a leg or arm. Some had their heads and were missing all their arms and legs. The Alpha? Oh a REALLY powerful Energy blast made him cease to exist…yeah….

Breathing slightly worse than at rest, satisfied but still angry, he decided to head towards the temple in the direction everyone else went. Losing the smile he had the moment he started walking. He ended up making himself really angry again by thinking about what Weiss said, resulting in once again, a large explosion of Aura and needing to kill something.

Ozpin and Glynda saw the whole thing through their Scrolls. Speechless at how he just cut down the whole pack in MAYBE two seconds. MAYBE. With nothing else to do but observe, they went back to their Scrolls. Looking at every student BUT AJ. They don't really WANT to see what he's doing right now.

"I think the Grimm are the ones in danger, not him." Ozpin commented with a chuckle. 'Mental note, he's dangerous when he's really angry. Might want to work on that…'

* * *

The two professors saw Blake and Yang arrive at the temple. There were pedestals surrounding them in a circle. The relics were on each pedestal.

"Chess…Pieces?" Blake asked.

"Some of them are missing… Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Yang said.

"I guess we should pick one." Blake said.

"How about a cute little pony!?" Yang asked, picking up one of the chess pieces.

"Sure." Blake said rolling her eyes but smiling.

"That wasn't too hard!" Yang said.

"Well it's not like this place is very difficult to find."

There was a loud scream in the distance.

"You hear that Blake? Some girl's in trouble!" Blake was too busy looking up at something in the sky with worry.

"Blake did you hear that? What should we do?" Yang asked finally turning to see Blake was looking up and she did as well, just in time to see her sister falling from the sky.

"HEADS UUUUUUUUP!" Ruby screamed before being hit midair by Jaune, who had also been sent flying, and they both went into a nearby tree.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked disbelievingly.

"I…" was all Yang got to say.

A few trees at one end of the clearing fell showing an Ursa Major on its hind legs flailing. A pink explosion went off behind it and it fell, dead, showing Nora had been riding the thing with a "YEEEEHAAAAHHH!" She slid off the back of the Grimm and looked at it. "Aww. It's broken." Ren appeared from behind, breathing heavily from running.

"Nora!….. Please….. Don't ever do that again…." He finally looked up and saw Nora was gone, she was now at the temple picking up a random piece singing "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" "NORA!"

"Coming Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride in here on an Ursa Major?" Blake asked Yang.

"I uh-"

The trees in a further away part of the clearing revealed a pack of Beowolfs running away from something. That something was AJ with Aura not just leaking, but blasting out from his body. He was slowly walking towards the Grimm that were all stumbling as they ran they were so scared. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" He screamed as he charged up and literally threw a large ball of Energy (to everyone else it seems like Aura) and created a crater that went from his side of the clearing to the middle of the clearing. The Aura that was flowing off him was down to normal levels again.

"Did AJ just chase a pack of Beowolfs out of the forest by scaring them? Grimm can feel fear? What the heck did he do to cause that?"

Yang didn't even respond anymore.

A REALLY BIG Ursa Major ran by AJ as fast as it could into the clearing. **"GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!"** AJ yelled as he created chains out of Aura and an outer layer of Energy and threw them at the Ursa and wrapped around its neck, he yanked hard and sent the thing flying towards him, he didn't realize he had actually snapped its neck with that pull, and punched it with all the Aura he had left that was leaking off him and vaporized it instantly.

"Did he just create chains out of Aura?"

He stood for a moment breathing heavily, then collapsed onto his hands and knees from using the amount of Aura he had used. He figured he wouldn't be able to use this amount of Aura for months but apparently anger is a good motivator.

'Alright, I feel better now.'

He waited a few minutes for his breathing to slow and eventually looked up and saw Blake's bright yellow eyes looking at him with concern.

"Are you ok? You just used an ungodly amount of Aura." Blake said.

"Yeah….Totally fine…just tell me…if Weiss comes by….. So I know not to look at her…." AJ was breathing heavily still and it didn't help Blake's worry. It was a few more minutes before he finally stood up with her help, and they walked over to Yang. Yang looked like she was holding in quite a bit of anger.

AJ couldn't help but notice that this was the temple where he met the spirit, though back then it was a half circle. His Aura unlock must have cleared away the dirt. Or maybe he was at another ruin similar to this one. Either or.

"Wait, AJ? You're doing the initiation? Since when?"

"Since I decided to Yang." AJ responded, clearly not caring to give a good answer to the question.

Trees parted again as Pyrrha Nikos ran through with a VERY large scorpion on her tail. A Deathstalker, a scorpion Grimm. Large plates cover its body, it has moss growing on it and there are large slash marks on the armor. It's a very old Grimm. Pyrrha dodged some swings of its pincers and kept running.

"Did she just run all the way over here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"

Yang was about to lose it.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune responded still stuck in a tree. Ruby saw the Grimm and jumped out of the tree. "Ruby!" Jaune called to no avail, he's still stuck.

"Ruby!" Yang said seeing her sister and starting to calm down.

"Yang!" Ruby said seeing her sister.

"NORA!" Nora said as she jumped up between the two before they could hug.

"AJ?" Blake asked seeing AJ was backing away from Yang.

"Blake…" He said pointing at Yang whose anger had been reignited.

"I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Yang yelled as her eyes were red again and flames flew around her. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again!?"

One…

Two…

DING!

"Uh… Yang." Ruby asked.

Yang just gave up. Her eyes were blue again and she just kind of sank.

Everyone was looking up and saw Weiss hanging onto the talon of a bird Grimm, a Nevermore.

"How could you leave me!?" Weiss yelled.

"I said jump!" Ruby said.

"She's gonna fall" Blake said.

"Please…" AJ said out loud.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said, she seemed pretty sure of that for some reason.

"She's falling." Ren deadpanned.

"Yes!" AJ whispered, then looked down and saw the sisters were glaring at him.

As Weiss was falling, Jaune jumped out from a tree and caught her. "Just dropping in." He said. Then realized they were still gonna fall and did just that.

Blake saw AJ was already mostly back to normal and walked just a bit slower than normal and it was clear he was heading towards Weiss. 'Oh no.' Blake thought and tried to stop him but he dodged her grabs and kept walking, she couldn't see his face as she was always behind him and his hood had been pulled further down so it cast a shadow. He finally reached Jaune and Weiss who had just stood up. Weiss looked at him and froze, Blake feared what was about to happen. Then he walked by her and looked at Jaune…

"JUST DROPPING IN!? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS JAUNE!?" Everyone but Jaune breathed a sigh of relief.

AJ didn't actually say anymore he just walked back to the group and Weiss, Blake, and Jaune joined him. Just in time to see Pyrrha get knocked over to the temple as a gift from the Deathstalker, not really, but she did get hit.

"Great! The gangs all here! Now we can die together!" Yang said.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby said before charging the Deathstalker.

"Ruby wait!" Yang yelled.

"Ruby don't!" AJ yelled

Ruby shot her scythe and charged only to be knocked back by the Grimm's pincers. "D-don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby yelled towards the group before firing her scythe, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off, and running away.

"Hey, AJ don't suppose you can use those awesome powers on that thing!?" Yang asked.

"No I did that in a blind rage I have no control over those powers." AJ said regretting that he can't help.

Yang, seeing Ruby running towards them, ran to help her. "Ruby!" She yelled. The nevermore that Weiss and Ruby had used for a ride, flew by again and, with a screech, flapped its wings once hard and a hail of giant feathers rained down and one pinned Ruby be her cloak and a few others stopped in front of Yang, stopping her in her tracks. She called out to Ruby again. "Ruby! Get out of there!"

"I'm trying!" Ruby yelled as she pulled hopelessly on her cloak, then looked up and saw the stinger of the Deathstalker about to hit her.

'NO!' AJ thought and his bow appeared again. Unlike anything else he created, this bow was really easy to form, the chains however, that tired him out like nothing else could. He can't just create things at will, well actually he could, but it really weakens him if he does.

He let loose the arrow and he appeared between Ruby and the stinger but since he was in midair he had no leverage to block and was knocked down next to Ruby and the stinger struck again. They both closed their eyes and waited but instead heard Weiss. "You are so childish!"

They both opened their eyes and saw a wall of ice trapping the stinger and the Deathstalker. "And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style Ruby! And I suppose, I can be a bit…" Ruby braced and AJ raised an eyebrow. "Difficult. But if we are going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer."

AJ found great relief in this. Weiss is capable of being nice! Knowing this, he can safely say 'she doesn't need to die! Still is a brat but not just a brat. What was the phrase? Tsundere or something like that? She's probably like that!'

"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." Ruby said.

"You're fine." Weiss said before walking back to the group.

'Really? You think she is? Alright, she is definitely bearable now!' AJ looked at Ruby to see how she felt about this.

"Normal knees…" Ruby whispered to herself.

'Yep! She's fine.' "Come on Ruby, your sister is worried." AJ motioned for her to follow.

They turned to walk over and saw Yang already running to them and she gave Ruby a tight hug. "I'm so happy you're ok!" She said. Then looked at AJ and gave him a crushing hug as well. "Thank you for saving my little sis!"

"No….problem….air though…..would be nice…" he said unable to breathe. Yang released him. They joined up with the group at the temple.

"Guys," Jaune said pointing at the sky. "that thing is circling back. What are we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dillydallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss said pointing at the temple and the chess pieces.

"She's right." Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind." Jaune said.

Him, Ruby, and AJ all went up to get a chess piece. 'Is there even a piece for me? Ozpin would have thought about this and left a piece for me right?' AJ eventually found a King piece that was painted grey. 'Odd, but probably what I'm supposed to grab.' He took the piece and joined the others.

Ren saw the ice was cracking because of the Deathstalker's struggle. "Time we left!"

"Let's go!" Ruby said and took the lead.

* * *

They eventually made it to the ruins in front of the cliff. There was a large drop between the group of nine and the cliff. Part of the ruins was a large bridge that allowed them to cross, their only way to cross. When you make it across the bridge there is a large spire, the Nevermore landed on said spire, blocking off the group from crossing the bridge. It cawed down at the group which took cover in the ruins.

"Well THAT'S great!" Yang said sarcastically. The group heard noise behind them and saw the Deathstalker slam through the trees, now forcing them towards the Nevermore.

"Oh man run!" Jaune called out.

"I don't see any other choice! Run towards the Nevermore!" AJ called out as well.

"Nora distract it!" Ren said, pointing at the Nevermore before joining everyone else in running away from the Deathstalker.

Nora ran out in the middle of the field and the Nevermore took flight, firing a barrage of feathers at Nora who easily jumped through before pulling out a grenade launcher and firing off her grenades which hit the bird Grimm in the face before it could fire another volley, forcing it to leave and circle back. The Deathstalker was right on top of Nora but Ren and Blake came in and blocked the attack while Weiss used a glyph to get her and Nora away.

Everyone was now running across the bridge. "Nice! The Deathstalker is too big to cross!" AJ called looking over his shoulder at said Grimm. He looked forward again just in time to see the Nevermore slam into the bridge destroying it. The group was now separated. Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Jaune, AJ, and Nora had been sent across. Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha were send back to the Deathstalker, leaving one direction to go that didn't include falling, the big scorpion. The forward group was shooting at the Nevermore, except for Jaune, AJ, and Nora, who were looking at the back group.

"Six on this side, three on the other, not good." AJ said.

"Yeah! They need our help!" Jaune said.

"Let's do this!" Nora said.

"Uh, yeah… I can't make that jump…" Jaune said, concerned.

"I could throw you." AJ suggested but was cut off by Nora mecha-shifting her weapon into a war hammer and knocking Jaune back. She jumped forward and spun around, facing them. AJ realized she was giving them a catapult like throw with Nora slamming the end of the bridge down causing their side to go flying up. AJ jumped up just as the ground him and Jaune stood on suddenly shot up, launching Jaune towards the back group, Nora fired a shot from her hammer which sent her flying with Jaune, but much more gracefully. She went right over Ren and hit the Deathstalker right on the head, it wasn't fazed, so she fired a shot from her hammer, which actually effected it and knocked it's head into the ground, didn't effect it enough because it still struck out with its stinger at Nora, who blocked it with her hammer but it knocked her into Blake and Blake fell off. AJ looked at her as she fell but saw her use her ribbon-attached weapon to get back and she landed on the Nevermore so he went and joined Weiss, Ruby, and Yang on the spire.

"It's tougher than it looks." Blake said when she finally landed next to them.

"Then lets hit it with everything we got!" Yang said reloading her gauntlets.

Weiss began firing white magic missiles, Blake fired her little pistol, Yang fired gauntlets, AJ fired Energy blasts and Ruby fired her Scythe-Gun. The Nevermore continued to fly right at them, many of their shots missed with how far away it was and the few that hit weren't strong enough. It eventually reached them and slammed into the spire destroying it. AJ pulled out his bow and shot it upward and landed on what was left of the tower, Yang joined him. The others were at the foot of the broken spire.

"None of this is working!" Weiss said.

Ruby was looking around and saw Blake using her ribbon and finally land nearby, Yang and AJ were on the broken spike firing at the Nevermore, oddly their shots were the same in fire rate, in size, the only difference you could really see was the way they fired, and the color of the shot. "I have an idea! Cover me!" Ruby said.

AJ and Yang clearly did nothing as they fired and tried to figure out a way to hurt this thing, but Yang kept shooting at it. He looked down at the others and saw Ruby. He suddenly thought he was hearing music and it was hard to focus. He heard Nora yell "REN!" and he turned and saw Ren get thrown away from the Deathstalker and hit a wall hard.

It appeared Pyrrha's weapon was in one of the eyes of the Grimm and the stinger seemed only partly attached. Jaune apparently noticed this and called it out. Pyrrha threw her shield and it cut off the stinger which fell on the Grimm's head and stabbed it, it's thick armor kept it from going in deep and he saw Nora jump on Pyrrha's shield which had somehow bounced back to her. She fired a shot from her hammer into the shield and Pyrrha jumped, sending Nora high into the air and she shot her hammer to go flying back down and drive the stinger deep into the Deathstalker, for good measure she fired off another shot and the force broke the bridge and sent Jaune and Pyrrha over the Grimm and Nora landed next to them, Ren walked back over to them and then passed out.

 _Couldn't take it couldn't stand another minute_

'Now there are voices along with the music, great.'

 _Couldn't bear another day without you in it_

 _All the joy that I had known for all my life_

 _Was stripped away from me the minute that you died._

AJ looked back at Yang and saw the Nevermore charging again and him and Yang jumped up to meet it.

 _To have you in my life was all I ever wanted_

 _But now without you I'm a soul forever haunted_

 _Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted_

 _There's no way in hell that I could ever comprehend this_

Yang kept the beak open and fired into it, while AJ was hit by the wing and was send flying all the way to Jaune's group.

 _I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone_

 _I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong_

AJ landed and stood up quickly, he saw the Nevermore slam into the cliff. The song made it hard to focus.

 _How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?_

 _Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f-ing day_

AJ found that he was now quietly singing the song out loud and he put his right hand to his head because it hurt. Jaune was talking to him and asking if he was ok but he couldn't hear it.

 _It's like a movie but there's not a happy ending_

 _Every scene fades black and there no pretending_

The nevermore tried to take off but Weiss used ice and pinned it by its tail.

 _This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well_

 _There's no Knight in shining armor that will wake me from my spell_

 _I know you didn't plan this_

Weiss went back to the group.

 _You tried to do what's right_

 _But in the middle of this madness_

 _I'm the one_

 _I'm the one_

 _I'm the one_

 _You left to win this fight_

AJ put both hands to his head and fell to his knees. He suddenly found he was on a cliff, there was snow everywhere and there was what appeared to be some gravestone. The name was covered in snow but he could see the quote under it. " _Thus kindly I scatter."_ Then everything went black. He eventually got back up and was actively singing the song. Not quietly at all and Jaune's group wondered what was wrong with him.

 _Red Like Roses_

Blake got on one pillar and threw her ribbon to another. AJ jumped across the gap to the group and kept running.

 _Fills my head with dreams_

Yang, at the other pillar, caught the ribbon and tied it around the pillar she was on. AJ ran between the two pillars.

 _And finds me_

Ruby jumped on her scythe and used the ribbon as a slingshot that Weiss pulled back with a Glyph.

 _Always closer_

Ruby looked to her left and saw AJ just standing there looking at the Nevermore and singing a song she knew all too well.

The nevermore broke out of the ice and began to take off so Weiss shot the slingshot and Ruby went flying towards it.

 _To the emptiness and sadness_ AJ created eight glyphs in Ruby's path.

 _That_ she hit the first glyph and it shattered and she sped up.

 _Has_ same with the second

 _Come_ the third, even faster

 _To_ the forth

 _Take_ fifth

 _The_ sixth

 _Place_ seventh, little more than a red blur

 _Of_ the last, she almost disappears from sight.

 _YOU!_ Her scythe goes through the Grimm's neck like butter.

She slows down, becoming visible again on the other side of the Grimm who just lost its head.

Weiss creates glyphs for Ruby to come back down and when Ruby finally joins them they see AJ pass out.

* * *

 **Hmm... If I really wanted too... I could post two chapters a day. That would be the only way I would actually make good time... Don't count on that though...**

 **Hope you enjoyed! If you did, favorite and/or follow, don't be rude if you leave a review, and have a great day everyone!**


	5. The Plus One of RWBY Ch5

**Ah yes, the chapter where I got dizzy when I started writing it so I put it into the start of the story…**

 **Enjoy?**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.5

* * *

AJ woke up in the infirmary again. Oh well, at least the doc is a nice guy. He stood up and found he was REALLY dizzy. Like his eyes kept looking to the left against his will and his head was pulling him left as well. He would have fallen but his face landed in Yang's chest instead. He then fell off again without anytime to say hi and Blake caught him.

"Ah! Are you ok AJ?" Blake asked.

"Too dizzy…. Head pulling left…." He said before falling away from her despite her tight hold and fell face first. He rolled onto his side and was holding his head with both hands as he rolled slightly, he looked really out of it and was looking in every direction and never stared at anything, basically his eyes were spinning, and the room as far as he was concerned. "Neko…get out here…" AJ said and a white light appeared on the bed he was using and a brown cat that was familiar to the sisters appeared. It was clear as day now that the cat had his eyes and AJ had dull grey-green eyes that they hadn't seen before. The cat was stumbling everywhere like AJ and wasn't looking straight and Ruby had to block the cat from falling off the bed. The cat meowed lazily.

"I don't care if they see I'm so done with you right now…." AJ just sounded drunk now and it was comical to say the least as the cat kept stumbling and AJ kept lightly rolling. Team RWBY had been formed and came to see him and see if he woke up yet, he did, then this happened.

"Well you're sense of humor is intact as usual." The doc looked down at AJ and laughed a little. AJ lazily swiped at the doc's face.

"Get over here… so I can claw your eyes out…." AJ drunkly said.

"AJ, Neko is out right now, you don't have claws." The doc pointed out.

Team RWBY really had questions now but it was pointless to ask them with him in this condition, even Weiss knew that.

"Oh yeah" AJ realized. "...Neko!…Get back in so I can… claw his eyes out!..." AJ said as he tried to lean in the direction of the bed he was in. The cat meowed in response and leaned away from him even though Neko was still on the bed and AJ couldn't reach him.

"What… do you mean… you WON'T!?" AJ tried to yell.

AJ actually managed to stand up before falling face first again. Weiss face palmed.

"Dizziness doesn't go away easily for him so you girls might as well go back to your new dorm." The doc said, picking AJ up and avoiding the lazy swipes at his face. He set AJ in another bed since Neko now had the previous one. He strapped AJ to the bed so he wouldn't fall.

"Are you kidding? This is too funny." Yang said with a smile.

"No! I need to make sure the kitty doesn't fall…" Ruby said. Neko growled at her while still stumbling. "Right, Neko, sorry!" She got the message.

"I have questions for him." Weiss said.

"We all do." Blake responded.

"Alright you can stick around but bear with me here." Doc said and gave AJ a pill to help him recover.

Yang saw an opportunity here, maybe he IS drunk, she could ask questions and get honest answers! "So, AJ, have a crush on anyone here? Maybe Blake?" She teased. Blake glared at her.

"Shut up… Yang…" AJ said. Guess he isn't drunk.

It was a good half an hour before AJ wasn't dizzy. Team JNPR had shown up in that time. Apparently Jaune is the leader.

"Alright, that was the opposite of fun." AJ said, having recovered. He was sitting on the side of his bed. Neko meowed. He was sitting in his lap now. "No kidding, that sucked." Was what Neko said.

"Alright, so what's up with the cat?" Yang asked pointing at the cat in his lap.

AJ wondered how to explain this to them. He couldn't really lie at this point, and telling them would require admitting he was a Faunus. "Well, Neko is kind of a part of me, that's why he's randomly around me. Also I can understand what he says even if he only meows."

"How could he be a part of you?" Weiss asked, not believing him.

"Well I… There's no other way to say it... I'm a Faunus…" AJ said, hanging his head down and simply looking at Neko. There was silence for a minute, but not any immediate hate, which was a good sign. "I don't suppose you all are actually good people and you aren't racist?" He asked.

"Of course we're good people, silly!" Nora answered.

"Me and Ruby sure aren't racist." Yang added.

AJ looked up at them surprised.

"What? You actually thought we were racists?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah… everyone hates me for being a Faunus…. It's stupid…" AJ said depressed again. He felt a sense of Déjà vu as Ruby hugged him in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's alright AJ! We think it's stupid too!" Ruby said as she hugged him. This time AJ returned the hug.

"You'll get no trouble from us." Pyrrha said.

"Wow, thanks guys! I knew you all were awesome people when I saw you!" AJ said actually almost shedding a tear of joy.

"Yeah! We're AWESOME!" Yang and Nora both yelled and fist pumped. Everyone laughed at their enthusiasm, except Weiss of course. Suddenly AJ had gone from zero friends around his age to eight. Back in his own world he was used to little more than one good friend, and he was ok with that, but maybe this would work out anyway.

"Didn't you say you could understand your cat 'even if he only meows'?" Pyrrha asked. "What else would he do besides that?"

Nora gasped in realization and excitement. "Can he talk!?" She asked.

"That would be a yes." Neko said in plain English.

"I knew it!" Nora exclaimed.

"How is that possible?" Blake asked, the only other one not too shocked to speak.

"Well you see…" AJ started, the flipped his hood down to show his brown hair with no animal traits. "At this very moment, I'm technically not a Faunus. Neko, if you will." Neko meowed and disappeared in a white light that took up his body and when the light went away he was gone.

"Yeah, he did that when you told him to 'come out'. Where is he now?" Blake asked.

The question was somewhat answered when two large cat ears that were almost the size of Blake's bow came out of his head, and a brown tail appeared behind him. Shock was evident on everyone's faces, even Ren's, and AJ couldn't help but smile.

"That answer the question?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and bring more questions!" Weiss yelled.

"I can't explain to you how but Neko _is_ the Faunus part of me, and I can lose the Faunus traits, and gain a friend, by having Neko take his own form. You also should notice I have my bright green eyes again." He pointed at his eyes and everyone squinted to see his vibrant green eyes with gold flecks in them. "He has those eyes when he takes his own form and I get my dull grey-green eyes again."

"That is SO COOL!" Ruby squeed.

"I've never known a Faunus to be able to do that." Pyrrha said.

"I'm unique in that sense. So now that that is out of the way and you all are going to tell no one about it, someone recap what happened while I was out!" AJ threatened then requested.

 _Sometime later_

"…So yeah you were out while we were put into our teams." Blake finished.

"Oh, darn it! Would have liked to be there... Oh well." AJ said.

"But you don't have a team! What are we gonna do about that!?" Ruby asked and everyone agreed that needed to be answered.

'I… didn't really think that far into my plan did I? Wait, yeah I did! I thought I would just be in a solo team! …Is that possible?'

"I can help with that." Ozpin said as he walked into the infirmary. "I see you have shown them." Ozpin was referring to the fact that AJ's hood was down and you could see his ears and his tail resting at his side on the bed.

AJ and a few others nodded.

"I had to think quickly when AJ said he wanted to be in the initiation. So I put a unique piece in and painted it grey." AJ remembered the piece he had and pulled it out from one of his jeans pockets. A grey king piece. "Quite simply, you will be a fifth member in a team of your choosing. It won't change the official name of the team though. You will more or less be a "Plus One" for the team."

"What's a plus one?" Ruby asked Yang.

"When you get invited to a party that says you can bring a plus one it means you can bring a friend." Yang answered.

"Oh."

"Do we really even need to ask? AJ seems to get along with Yang and Ruby pretty well." Jaune pointed out. Yang put AJ in a headlock again, it was as easy as last time because he wasn't standing.

"Yeah! This guy would obviously choose his friends, right!?" Yang asked.

"Yeah…obviously… You didn't have to put me in a headlock for that… Wasn't gonna make this into some crazy plot twist!" AJ said struggling to get out of the lock.

"Good!" Yang shouted as she released him. "Then it's decided."

"Yep! The Plus One of RWBY it is!" Ruby shouted and shot her fist into the air. AJ and Yang threw their fists up as well.

"Yeah!" They both yelled.

Weiss face palmed again and Blake just smiled.

"Alright then. If that's your decision." Ozpin said. AJ nodded. "Well if you're feeling well then I believe you students can all go back to your dorms." Ozpin motioned for everyone to leave.

They eventually made it to their dorms and Ozpin wished both teams a good night. But before they went into their rooms…

"Wait, where did AJ go?" Blake asked. Everyone looked around and briefly looked in their own dorms and saw he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"He has his own private dorm somewhere else and wishes that you don't know where it is so he has his own private place away from everyone. And no I'm not going to tell you." Ozpin finished with a smile.

"Fair enough." Blake said, understanding wanting peace and quiet.

AJ wasn't actually that far away, when you step out of RWBY's dorm just go right, take the first left and half way down the hall is AJ's room. Just kidding, take a right and the first door to your right, the door literally next to RWBY's room, yeah that's AJ's.

'Obviously they will find it at some point but I'll just let them figure it out.' He thought as he stepped into his room after ditching the two teams and running ahead without them noticing.

The room was the same size as the other dorms. A large TV on the right wall, a bed in the middle of the room but opposite the door, a bed large enough for someone who is 6 foot 3, and a bathroom to the left. He fell into his bed and went to sleep. For him "going to sleep" means lying there for 2 hours thinking a lot before finally deciding to stop thinking and try to go to sleep, which takes up to another hour.

* * *

Unbeknownst to either, Weiss and AJ both woke up at the same time, and both sat up in their beds for their first day as official beacon students, both of them also had their eardrums blown out by a whistle and fell on their faces. Cat ears are sensitive in the morning and he heard the whistle about as loud as Weiss did. Didn't help that a only wall separated them but still. 'Oh, god Blake must be in as much pain as me.' He thought, not knowing that Blake was awake a bit before the whistle and was ready for it, unlike him.

"GOOD MORNING TEAM RWBY!" Ruby yelled.

AJ got up, quietly opened his door, went to the room next door, and knocked.

"We still have to unpack… and clean." Blake said before everyone turned to the knocking at the door. Blake ignored her mess of stuff she had just dropped and opened it and a smile appeared looking up to her fellow Faunus before she quickly dropped it. He looked really tired, and really unhappy with them. Blake felt bad for him but also was kinda scared that he was mad at them.

"Here's your first clue," He said pointing at them. "I heard that, and it hurt." He then slammed the door shut and walked back to his room, using the door quietly so they wouldn't hear. Ruby's head went down for having hurt and angered her first friend at Beacon.

"It's ok sis. You had no way of knowing AJ would hear that." Yang said putting a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Seriously, what kind of name is AJ!?" Weiss said annoyed.

"He didn't like it when we asked so we just don't ask. Besides, he said he goes by AJ, so that's not his actual name." Yang said.

The teams, now awake, set up their pictures, books, pillows, etc. In their now dorms. AJ, unfortunately now awake, went and found Ozpin in his office since he doesn't know what his classes are yet. His first class for his first day, was with Peter. The first living human he met in this world.

'He always tells odd stories that are massively overblown but in a funny way. Should be an interesting class.' He thought as he walked casually through the halls following Ozpin. Now he just wished he didn't have to wear his hood anymore, his friends understand but no one else will so he still has to keep his hood on. They walked out of the halls heading towards the building his class was in.

"Just so you know AJ, you're going to be fashionably late for this class, but you're with me so no need to worry." Ozpin said. AJ nodded.

"When it comes to classes there is no 'fashionably late' professor Ozpin." Glynda said as she approached and now walked beside the two. "There is just late, which you will not be allowed to be any more than anyone else young man!" She yelled at AJ who just rolled his eyes and nodded his head. He agreed with her, but laughed internally at her scare tactics, everyone was so afraid of her, and it frustrated her to no end that AJ wasn't afraid of her. They were about to turn into the building when teams RWBY and JNPR ran by and didn't even see them.

"Looks like your friends are just barely going to make it to class." Ozpin pointed out. Glynda excused herself to answer a call and Ozpin and AJ continued to the latter's class.

They stepped through the doors to the class and Ozpin motioned for silence just before and smiled. It was so weird to see the headmaster of a well-known school smiling like he's about to pull a prank, and AJ enjoyed it, it showed he was actually human unlike Glynda who almost never seemed to have emotion besides anger and frustration.

They casually walked in, behind all the seats and looking down at Peter Port, the teacher of the class, who was deep in another one of his stories, this one in particular AJ heard often. No one knew they were there except for one random student in the back at the same level as them who looked back as if sensing their presence and went wide eyed seeing the Headmaster. AJ put a finger to his lips for silence and was smiling, the student nodded in understanding and turned back to the class, also smiling like an idiot knowing something no one else knows.

That makes AJ, Ozpin, and this random student all smiling like idiots in the back of the class.

Peter finished his story and bowed before speaking. "The moral of this story is that a true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise. Now, who believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits!" Peter asked as his gut jiggled when he talked. Weiss's hand shot up.

"I DO SIR!" She yelled, she sounded angry about something. Peter instead looked up towards the back of the class.

"OH! Oz! When did you join us?" Peter asked.

"Just after the cabbages." Ozpin said, at the sound of this voice everyone turned to the back and saw Ozpin with his right hand up, and his left hand holding a certain tall brown cloaked figure's right hand up.

"Of course YOU are the embodiment of these traits Oz! You don't even need to raise your hand, but AJ? You believe so?" Peter asked, even though he already agreed with Ozpin on raising AJ's hand.

"Yes, I believe he is." Ozpin said, before releasing AJ's hand.

"Well then, step forward, and face your opponent." Peter said motioning towards a cage at the front of the class that clearly had some Grimm inside. "Actually, for you AJ," He said to the boy that was now standing in front of him, he didn't look happy having to do this. "You need a tougher opponent, or maybe, MORE OPPONENTS!" He yelled dramatically as two more cages fell from the ceiling landing on either side of the first cage.

"Are you kidding me Peter!?" AJ whispered loudly. "I barely have any experience with Grimm!"

"My boy, I saw the initiation footage of you and the first pack of Beowolfs…"

AJ stood his ground, crossing his arms.

"And… the second…" Peter said and imperceptivity shivered.

AJ's arms were still crossed but they sunk down slightly.

"And the third…"

AJ's arms fell to the side.

"And I believe most of teams RWBY and JNPR saw what happened to the third! HAHA!" He laughed looking at team RWBY in the front and all but Weiss sweatdropped remembering what AJ had done to the last pack and the Ursa Major.

"But that was in a rage! I have no control over that and even if I did I would destroy your class!" AJ whispered angrily again.

Peter sighed. "Fine my boy. You will fight them one at a time."

AJ nodded in thanks and got ready for his three opponents.

"You got this AJ!" Yang yelled.

"Fight well!" Blake yelled holding a small red flag with RWBY written in white.

'Where did she-'

"Represent us AJ! You got this Plus one!" Ruby yelled.

"Plus One! Plus One!" They started to cheer, minus Weiss of course. AJ glared at them and they stopped. He hated the attention they were forcing on him, he needed to focus, and he didn't like being called Plus One.

The first Boarbatusk charged out of the cage. He jumped out of the way and drew his sword. The Grimm spun around and charged again. AJ turned and started looking at the pictures Peter had put on the whiteboard and looked for the picture of his current enemy, he saw it and tried to read it from where he was standing. The Grimm almost hit him but he put a glyph between him and his enemy and the Boarbatusk ran into it. He finally found the weakness on the picture and turned to his enemy who had recovered from running into a wall. He pointed two fingers at the Grimm and a white glyph with his symbol appeared below it. He pointed his fingers up toward the sky with his palm toward him and the glyph shattered, sending the Grimm into the air and he simply waited for the Grimm's belly to fall on his sword.

"Ha! You always were one to show off!" Peter commented with a laugh.

"I don't like showing off, I just like having Style Points." AJ corrected. "There's a difference."

The next Boarbatusk came out of its cage and AJ put away his sword. The two charged each other and AJ grabbed it by the tusks and they struggled. His smile wasn't going away, it was like watching Yang, always smiling during a fight unless things actually get difficult.

"Bold new approach! I like it!" Peter said.

AJ lifted the Grimm by its tusks and threw it over his head into the ground behind him, he then picked it up again, spun, and threw it into the wall opposite the cages, the Grimm stumbled back up and charged him again, he punched it square in the bone mask with an Aura filled punch and it stopped the Grimm in its tracks and cracked it's mask. AJ grabbed the tusks and broke them off, the Boarbatusk squealed in pain before he kicked it into the wall and charged it holding the tusks like two daggers, he held them 'reverse' like the professionals do. Despite not having tusks the Grimm had no other attack besides charging. It was a juvenile, too easy for any real Beacon student. AJ kicked it in the jaw flipping it onto its back and stabbed it in the belly with both tusks.

"Excellent my boy! We trained you well!" Peter said.

"It was a young one Pet- Mr. Port, it was really an easy fight." AJ said trying to make the point that he hadn't done anything special.

Peter broke the lock on the third cage and a larger Boarbatusk came out of the cage. AJ pulled out his sword again. He needs to win without showing too much of what he can do to the other students, and this is an older Grimm so that won't be easy, unless he uses his sword that he has years of knowledge on from the spirit.

The Grimm charged and AJ jumped over it striking it as he went over, it barely scratched it, too much armor for any sharp weapon. He met another charge trying to kick it in the jaw but it actually moved its head out of the way and its charge connected, sending him into the wall. It charged again as he got up and he caught the tusks with his hands and put both his feet in its face as it pinned him against the wall, it was strong, he couldn't push it away, he needed to hurt it, he could use his claws but that would suggest he was a Faunus, he had the idea of launching them both into the air with a glyph but realized he didn't feel his hood. His hood had fallen off when he was hit.

'WHY!? WHY!? It never fell off before why now!?' He thought and saw the look of shock on everyone's faces, except Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, as all but Weiss looked concerned that his large cat ears could be seen and how he would react to discovering this. 'Don't need to use that glyph now.' His claws came out and he stabbed it just behind the mask with his right hand, letting go of one tusk wouldn't hurt him since it can't make use of just one tusk. The Grimm released him and squealed in pain and surprise as the claws had gone through its armor. AJ used this chance and built up a lot of Aura into his right foot as he stood up, and then soccer (American soccer) kicked the Grimm and it flew across the room into the ceiling and fell dead. He pulled his hood back up and…

Team RWBY looked away from the astounding kill and saw AJ holding a white bow and pointing it at the door before disappearing and immediately after hearing the door out of class slam shut. They wanted to go help him, but they still had classes to go through, so they went through the rest of class, Weiss got to fight a Boarbatusk of her own before class ended and she left the class angry, Ruby followed her out and got yelled at.

Ozpin helped Ruby with the whole "leader" thing and Port got Weiss to stop complaining about not being leader. Why do I not go more into detail with all that? Because in all the commotion of fixing Weiss's problem they forgot about AJ and he didn't have any part of the arguments and fixing and I'm doing this from his view more often than not so "WE SKIP TO THE NEXT DAY!" The author yells dramatically.

* * *

AJ spent all of Port's class for the second day of school hiding under his hood and not daring to look and see everyone staring at him, they had to be right? He couldn't hear anything bad being said about him so either they were SOMEHOW not racists or they were staring at him in disgust. Peter Port doesn't care for a seating chart so AJ took an empty seat in the back as close to the door as possible, RWBY found the same seats in the front as last time. It was then that guilt struck RBY and they realized in the commotion that W caused they forgot about AJ and they felt really bad about it. They were gonna make it up to him somehow.

After going through Port's class, they had their first day with Oobleck. He is almost as fast as Ruby, it's crazy, and he talks almost as fast. With his first class over they went for the second day in Goodwitch's dueling class. Blake fought Ruby that class and after they fought Ruby told Blake about getting to know everyone in the team personally and in fighting styles. They need to be able to work together in a fight.

Blake was happy about this because Ruby was clearly on her way to being a good leader. But AJ wouldn't talk to them much during lunch, actually he didn't say a word to them, he seemed deep in thought the entire time. Would he really want to tell personal things to them right now? Blake went up to the roof to think about how this would go but when she opened the door to the roof of their dorm she saw AJ leaning on the railing. Guess this is her chance to get him to join them.

It was in this silence of the roof he always went to that AJ realized he wanted some music to listen to. He had nothing to listen to except any song in his head. He heard someone walking behind him and he turned around and saw Blake walking up to him with a friendly smile. She stood next to him, leaning on the railing like he is.

"Hey." Blake said.

"Hey."

"Are you ok? You ran away from Port's class yesterday and haven't talked to us at all today."

"My hood had never fallen off before, no matter how hard I was hit it never fell off, I don't get why it had to do it when the whole class was looking at me." He explained.

"I didn't hear anyone in class say anything bad about you when you left." AJ looked at her like she was crazy. "I know, I was just as surprised."

"Gee, almost makes me want to ditch the hood and finally show who I am but if I could do that then you wouldn't be wearing a bow." There was silence after that, for a few moments at least. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I wanted to see if I could help you, just because I won't show my ears doesn't mean you can't." She said and pulled back his hood so she could see his cat ears. "You already are ok around us and JNPR, why not let everyone else see? We're your friends now, we'll make sure no one makes fun of you for it." She hoped this would help him, he seemed so depressed.

"If I show me heritage to everyone than you _have_ to show our team at the very least your heritage, preferably team JNPR as well." Blake was clearly about to revolt. "They all said they don't mind, come on. Can't you do it for me?" Blake found it really hard to say no to him when he put it that way. She sighed.

"Fine. I'll show them." She grabbed his arm. "But you _will_ be there when I do it."

"Of course." He said, they both looked into each other's eyes for a moment, full moonlight, alone… "Geez it's a good thing Yang isn't here right now." He said. Blake looked around at how overly romantic everything was and blushed. He thought it was a cute blush, and he also laughed, which earned a not-so-cute punch in the shoulder.

"Come on, we're having a team bonding thing going on right now and we have pretty much gone through all the girl stuff. All that's left is you telling a bit about yourself." Blake said.

"We're doing what now?"

They walked down the stairs and opened the door to RWBY's dorm. They were all sitting on the floor in a circle. Now AJ had a good chance to look at their room, mainly their bunk beds. One suspended with books and the other hangs on ropes haphazardly. He threw his arms out dramatically at the beds. "How!?"

"I have no idea." Was Weiss's response.

"Seriously, someone is gonna get hurt!" He added.

"Aww, glad to know the big guy cares for us little people." Yang said.

"You guys are my friends of course I don't want you to get hurt!" AJ said.

"Yeah, but I think it's pretty obvious who you care about the most." She said that teasingly and was pointing between Blake and AJ. They both looked down and saw Blake's left and AJ's right arms were still locked together and they quickly pulled away blushing. Yang laughed.

"You said we're friends, really? Even me? I could have sworn we hated each other." Weiss said while Yang laughed. AJ looked at her with an odd smile.

"Yeah, but I ended up a lot stronger because of you." Weiss had a confused look on her face. "I have a LOT of Aura, but I can't use too much of it before I get tired, as I use it more often I get more resistance to using my Aura. I heard you and Ruby arguing in the Emerald Forest and when you talked about being perfect I kind of lost it. I couldn't believe anyone actually thought they could be perfect and I let out a LOT of Aura in the attempt to find you and, I'll be honest, I got lost in anger and I wanted to kill you. But after going through a few packs of Beowolfs I realized I was overreacting again and stopped that train of thought, so don't worry, unless you somehow do something stupider than thinking you can be perfect, I'm not gonna kill you.

But I used so much Aura in that rage that my resistance is a lot higher and I can use more of it now!" He finished with a smile. "It also helps that I heard what you did yesterday, and last night, so I know you have a heart now." Weiss didn't know what to say with so much thrown at her like that. She took so long to think that AJ just continued. "So now that we're past the serious stuff, I was told we were doing some sort of team bonding thing?"

"Yep! It was my idea!" Ruby said clearly proud of herself. "We're just doing social stuff for now, we'll learn how to fight together tomorrow."

"Ok, well… I go by AJ. I like music and video games."

"Which ones!?" Yang and Ruby interrupted.

"Um… COD, Halo, Battlefield, Dragon Age, Destiny…"

"What level are you in Destiny!?" Ruby asked, clearly excited.

"Level 31 Hunter." He said with a smile, he didn't think they would be gamers like him.

"Yeah! Hunters! High-five!" Ruby yelled and AJ high-fived her.

"Alright gamers, please get back on track." Weiss said facepalming.

"Alright, um…"

"Favorite teacher!" Ruby said.

"Random but ok.' "My first grade teacher would have to be my favorite. She treated us like we were all her kids and she was just the nicest teacher I have ever seen. But there was this one teacher in sixth grade, don't remember her name, but she always got me to smile, I don't remember how though. I just remember she would always get me specifically to smile and I would try to hide it and everyone would look at me and probably be thinking 'Whoa! AJ can smile!?' or something like that. I had no reason to smile back then and I guess she just noticed that and made it her goal to make me smile."

"You are kinda cute when you smile." Yang teased and AJ blushed and looked away, he was actually still smiling though, Yang realized then that he must not get compliments often and felt bad for him, but was glad to be here now and cheer him up.

"How about… Random odd facts about yourself! If you can think of one." Ruby asked.

'Also random.' "Hang on… let me think… Oh! One odd fact I realized at one point was that I like to talk a lot but I'm shy."

"That's contradictory." Weiss said.

"Exactly!" Was AJ's response.

"So you like to talk but you don't like the attention? That must have been annoying." Blake said. AJ nodded in agreement.

"Ever had a girlfriend?" Yang said after a moment.

"Yes I did please leave that topic alone." AJ said quickly. Yang realized she was treading on thin ice and left it alone.

"I know Ruby said we would learn to fight together later but what is your fighting style?" Weiss asked.

"Oh that's what makes me a difficult opponent, besides the large amount of Aura, I don't have one fighting style." He answered.

"Ah, being able to switch between one tactic and another is a useful ability." Weiss said.

"Oh you don't understand." AJ said with a creepy smile. "I don't have two. I have many, MANY different fighting styles. My semblance might as well be called 'plot twist' with the reactions I get when I use it." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"We weren't talking about semblances. Are you saying your semblance has to do with fighting styles?" Weiss asked.

"Oh I never said that." AJ said with that smile never going away.

"You're being cryptic on purpose aren't you?" Yang asked. AJ nodded.

"Come on AJ! Tell us! We already said what our semblances are!" Ruby whined and attempted puppy dog eyes.

"As it says with Varric and his crossbow Bianca: "Any further questioning simply results in him grinning and walking away." AJ said with a smile still present.

"Huh, I just read that when I was playing a few days ago before we came to Beacon." Yang said to no one in particular.

"Speaking of secrets, Blake here convinced me to promote to no longer hiding my heritage, but because of that, she has upgraded to telling you guys, and team JNPR, her secret." AJ said.

A look of dread was now on Blake's face. AJ went out and brought Jaune's team in. "Alright Blake, it's time to show them, don't worry, you know how they feel about this, you're fine, and you know it."

Blake reluctantly took off her bow, it felt easier with AJ right next to her. Everyone had the expected reaction but immediately ignored their own feelings to tell her her ears looked cute and that they had no problem with this and she had nothing to worry about. The relief Blake felt was immense.

* * *

 **So… I just realized that the next chapter is on a different computer at a different parent's house… So I'm gonna have to actually rewrite the next chapter and if I'm not quick that will really slow me down on getting these chapters out. Well, at least the chapter is only as long as this one is, not one of those 10000+ word chapters.**

 **Well, hopefully I can get the next chapter out in a day or two. Follow, favorite, all that jazz.**

 **Have a great day!**


	6. The Plus One of RWBY Ch6

**Alright so I decided to not rewrite this chapter, but instead I was going to start doing a quick check on the next chapters, that way when I do get my hands on this chapter I can copy it and things will go quicker.**

 **Basically, I will be posting more than one chapter today.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.6

* * *

"So now that the big reveal is out of the way and JNPR is back in their dorm." AJ started. "Anything else for our team bonding session?" He asked the sisters.

The sisters thought for a minute before both of them blurted out "Favorite song!"

"And that goes for all of us, not just AJ." Yang said.

"I like music too much to choose just one song." AJ said, and Yang didn't like the answer.

"Well my favorite song is 'I Burn'." Yang said.

"Mirror Mirror." Weiss said hesitantly.

"From Shadows." Blake said also hesitantly.

"Red Like Roses. Obvious I know, but the lyrics have meaning as well." Ruby said the last part a bit depressed.

"Yeah, the first part of the song was a lullaby our mom used to sing but the lyrics on the last part hold meaning for us." Yang said pointing at Ruby and herself. Yang seemed depressed as well now.

"Blake can you hand me a piece of paper and a pencil?" AJ asked. Blake handed the paper and pencil and asked why. He didn't answer but instead wrote something on the paper and when she looked at it he had written down the names of the songs they mentioned. "Thanks Blake. I'm gonna go download and listen to these. See you guys tomorrow!" He said waving to them as he left. Yang looked up seeing him leave.

"Hey, wait a minute! Since when did we say he could go? Blake go get him!" Yang ordered. Blake didn't get why she had too but complied anyway. She jogged through the halls trying to find him and a few minutes went by when she remembered him on the roof and went there to find him. Her Faunus senses said someone was on the other side of the door but opened it slightly to make sure it wasn't someone else. He was standing near the railing and was whispering to himself, he had black headphones on and was bobbing his head slightly and shifting his weight slightly to the beat of the song.

She focused her cat ears and was able to her what he was whispering.

 _From Shadows_

 _We'll descend upon the world_

 _Take back what you stole_

 _From Shadows_

 _We'll reclaim our destiny_

 _Set our future free_

 _And we'll rise_

 _And we'll rise_

 _Above the darkness and the shame_

 _Above the torture and the pain_

 _Above the reticule and hate_

 _Above the binding of our fate_

He wasn't whispering anymore and he sounded angry.

 _Born with no life...into subjugation_

Treated like a worthless animal

Stripped of all rights

Just a lesser being

Crushed by cruel ruthless human rule

When it started

All we wanted was a chance to live our lives

Now in darkness

Taking everything we want and we will rise

We'll rise

 _We'll rise_

She couldn't take it anymore and she grabbed him by the shoulder and he calmed down when he looked at her. "I'm so sorry AJ. I shouldn't have said that song I should have thought of something else I… I didn't know you felt so strongly about this."

"No Blake, it's ok. I like the song actually, it just reminds me, you know?" Blake didn't feel much better about that. "I actually… tried to use my Aura to remove the Faunus part of me." He said, looking into the distance. She went wide eyed at the very idea. "I got beaten for being a Faunus back then and I tried to get rid of being a Faunus. It actually almost worked, but there is still a tether that connects me too it. That gave Neko the freedom to come out if he feels like it or I tell him too." Neko came out on cue and was on his shoulders, then he saw Blake and jumped into her arms. Blake laughed and began petting him. "But now I'm stronger, I'm not afraid anymore… I guess I just needed someone like you to say it was okay to show it."

"I'm glad I could help." Blake said. "You know, Yang told me to find you and bring you back to the dorm. But I think you have some music to listen too, so I won't. You might want to find a different roof though, their right below us."

"Aww, I always hung out on this roof." AJ said. Blake felt bad now.

"You can come back if you want to, just not now. Yang might go out looking for you herself if I take too long". Neko jumped on her shoulder and jumped to AJ's shoulder and disappeared again, making AJ's cat ears and tail appear again.

"Alright then, goodnight. And thanks for not ratting me out." He said as he left.

"You're welcome."

AJ walked through the hall with his hood on till he got back to his room and closed the door behind him. He then put down his hood again and as he jumped onto his bed Neko came out and jumped as well.

"I'll listen to those songs in the morning." AJ said to himself as he decided to sleep.

"She was really good at petting me, like REALLY good!" Neko meowed.

"She's a cat Faunus, what do you expect?" He said as Neko used his arm as a pillow.

"You should let her pet you sometime." Neko said teasingly.

AJ blushed. "Shut up." He said as he waved his arm and threw the cat off the bed. AJ heard him laugh a bit before jumping back up with a big grin on his face.

'Alright, I have crazy awesome powers I thought would only happen in an anime, I have a big group of friends, most of said friends are girls, and one of them is a cat. Oh and we all kill monsters with crazy mecha-shifting weapons… I don't have much to complain about to be honest. From playing video games to being in one. Except it's real and I could die, if any of the Grimm were actually a challenge! Seriously! THIS WORLD IS FUCKING AWESOME!' How much his life had changed. No wonder he was always smiling in a fight like Yang does. 'Seriously though, I might as well be in an anime.'

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch's class, where they fight each other till our Aura goes into the red zone. Where students show of and settle differences, and create new ones. Where some students want nothing more than to be one of the people that gets to fight today, among them, Yang, AJ, Nora… Then there's Jaune, the one person here that wants nothing more than to NOT be picked. The second to last match of the class was about to begin, who would be picked? Jaune dreaded every time the two fighters were chosen, he was lucky this time, it wasn't him, now he just hoped the fight would be too long for another fight, and another chance at him being picked and humiliated.

Yang went up to the stage and took her stance against her opponent, a certain brown cloaked cat Faunus.

"I finally get to see how you fight, big guy!" Yang said. 'Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't gone back to hiding under his hood.' She thought.

"You won't be seeing everything, I promise you that." AJ said as he pulled out this sword.

"Begin." Glynda said and the two students charged with big smiles on their faces.

(I was listening to **My Demons by Starset** while writing this, may I suggest this fight scene become a bit more awesome by using your imagination to make it as dramatic as a fight scene would be in RWBY AND also listen to this song)

Yang swung at his face, he redirected with his left and lunged with his sword. It struck but she took it and hit him in the side with a left and fired a shot, knocking him away. He got up and saw her in his face already and he had to quickly dodge and redirect a couple swings before slashing to get her to dodge and back up. He took the offensive and struck with his sword and occasionally his left claws. She dodged or blocked the blade and claws with her gauntlets and sparks flew from them. She saw her chance and knocked his sword out of his hands and hit him multiple times and one final punch knocked him across the stage, his Aura was down to half. He got up and started firing Energy shots at her, she dodged at first but soon started firing her own shots at him and the shots collided in midair. There was eventually too much smoke for Yang to see him and he suddenly jumped out from the smoke, white Aura coming off him in a mist, and hit her hard, knocking her away. She landed on her feet only to be hit by a barrage of punches and she could only block about half of them. One hard hit knocked her down again but she rolled onto her feet.

"Damn, you hit pretty hard." She said with a smile that only grew when her hair started glowing. AJ lost his smile now and watched in anticipation.

She shot her gauntlets behind her and flew towards him and he jumped out of the way but she fired at him once and hit him in the air. He fell from the hit and when he got up he was hit really hard and knocked his Aura almost into the red. He landed next to his sword and picked it up. Her hair was glowing less now and she charged him. He let out more of his Aura and charged as well. They met in the middle, both kept attacking and redirecting at the same time, neither fully defensive nor offensive. After the onslaught of attacks went on for a whole 15 seconds Yang's hair stopped glowing and AJ got his smile back. He struck her with his sword and while she was reeling got a few more slices and one final thrust of the sword knocked her down. Her Aura kept any blood from being drawn but her Aura wasn't much higher than AJ's was. She got up and fired a shot at him which he deflected with his sword and it hit the ground next to him. They stood there for a couple seconds just breathing heavily. AJ lost his Aura mist and was threatening to collapse. Yang saw this and shot her gauntlets to charge at him again and he barely threw his sword up in an arc left to right and it threw her left arm past him but she simply hit him with her right fist while he was wide open and fired.

"Congratulations, Yang Xiao Long, you are the victor." Glynda said.

Yang fist pumped lightly and went to help AJ up, he stood up but almost fell again and had to lean on her for support as they walked back to their team and JNPR.

"I'm either not as good with my Aura as I think I am or your hits when your hair was glowing took a lot out of me." AJ said wearily. 'When I was angry I used a lot more Aura than that and recovered fairly quickly form the exhaustion. I didn't get hit then though, so maybe my Aura was so focused on numbing pain and repairing damage that I couldn't keep it up this time. Guess I'll have to get hit a lot more to be able to REALLY make use of my Aura.'

"No, when your Aura came out like that you were moving really fast and it was hard to keep up, you did good." Yang said patting him on the back. They sat down with their team.

"Yeah but I couldn't help but notice you were massively holding back, care to tell me why?" AJ asked and Yang tried to avoid the question. Luckily people's reactions make a good distraction, and their reactions are fairly predictable.

"That was so cool!" Ruby would say and make sound effects.

Weiss would usually not say anything.

"Good job." Ren would say and everyone would assume it was meant for both of them.

Nora was too unpredictable to really know what she would say but you could assume it would be a lot like Ruby's reaction.

Pyrrha would say a very professional form of "Good job."

"That was awesome!" Jaune would say but he thought they were all really cool when all he has is a sword and shield.

Blake however? She wasn't exactly being her quite calm self. "Are you ok? Are you bleeding anywhere? Is anything broken? How do you feel?" She was saying as she seemed to look over every part of his arms, legs, and especially his face. She felt some overwhelming concern for the boy that she assumed was because he was a Faunus just like her, in fact, he was the same kind of Faunus as her, and so she figured it was that.

"Wow, Blake really does care for you AJ." Yang said teasingly.

AJ didn't like how close her face was. "I'm fine Blake, I have too much Aura for this to leave any permanent mark, or hurt for very long. Yang doesn't use lethal rounds, if she did, THEN it would leave a mark." Blake seemed to calm down, but not as much as he would have liked, what he would have liked, was for her to not keep looking at him from her seat like he was hiding some secret mark where Yang had hit him hard, he REALLY. WAS. FINE! "I'm fine dammit!" He whispered at her, clearly losing his patience and tired of her glances, she looked away and tried her hardest to not look again, she would try to take his word for it.

AJ was finally able to focus on the fight going on and who was in it. 'Oh no, poor Jaune, I guess he had to go up eventually.' Jaune was up there, and he was fighting someone AJ knew well, the guy hated Faunus after all, this guy would have learned his lesson but his friends, and Glynda, told him not to hurt the guy. His response was that he won't do it yet but he is rapidly losing patience with this guy. The chains in his head being pulled on lightly remind him of that fact. "Cardin." AJ whispered to himself through his teeth.

Cardin stood on the left side of the stage, Jaune on the right, hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Jaune stood up straight and charged with an overdramatic battle cry and Cardin dodged easily. Jaune turned to see his opponent's mace hit him and he fell away, losing his shield in the process. He stood up and held his sword with both hands, 'His sword's grip is actually big enough to do that' and charged again with another battle cry, Cardin easily blocked with the handle of his mace. Cardin began pushing back.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said.

"Over my dead-" Jaune was cut off by a knee to the gut. Cardin raised his mace of an attack while Jaune was down, not seeing the knee strike had put Jaune's Aura into the red. The lights over the stage turned off and a buzzer sounded, the only reason Cardin stopped.

"Cardin, that's enough." Glynda said, she stepped between the two. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune's Aura would not last much longer, and the official may call the match. If your Aura meter were to be gone completely, then there would be nothing protecting you from a blade or claw cutting right through you, or at the very least, leaving a scar. Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide if you need to take a more defensive approach to things. When your Aura is in the red, you are tired, and your Aura can't protect you from attacks very well, and when you're tired you can't stop from being hit more and losing the last bit of Aura, and unless someone else saves you, you will be defenseless, and we wouldn't want you getting gobbled up by an Ursa, now would we." Glynda finished. (That readers, is my idea of how Aura works)

"Speak for yourself." Cardin said before walking away.

Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So keep practicing." Glynda said. At the mention of the festival, Yang started punching the air, Ruby looked at us and could barely contain her excitement, squealing and all that, oddly enough, Weiss did the same thing but quickly composed herself. "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." 'I am SO not ready for that yet. My fight with Yang tells me that much.' AJ thought, then noticed that Jaune was still on the stage, he hadn't even gotten up. He also had his head down in depression. "Poor guy." He said out loud and Pyrrha looked over at him with a face that showed she agreed and wanted to do something about it. They would definitely help him at some point, probably soon. The bell rang and everyone went to the cafeteria for lunch.

* * *

"So… There we were in the middle, of the night." Nora said dramatically to the two teams sitting at their table. Blake sat on one side, reading a book and occasionally looking at the storytelling and AJ's interventions, AJ to her right, AJ was right across from Ren who sat to the left of Nora. To AJ's left was Yang, enthralled with the story, to her left was Weiss, with a small gap between them, Nora was right across from the gap. To Ice Queen's left with another gap was Ruby, Pyrrha was across from the gap between them and to the Spartan girl's right was Jaune, who sat right across from Ruby. This ended up being their standard seating arrangement after a couple days. No communication necessary, they all just sat somewhere and it stuck.

"Ren?" AJ asked knowingly, smiling the whole time.

"It was day." Ren deadpanned and corrected.

"We were surrounded by Ursai." Nora continued dramatically.

"But in reality…" AJ said looking at Ren.

"They were Beowolfs." Ren deadpanned again.

"Dozens of them!" Nora shouted, putting her hands on the table and jumping up from her seat.

"Survey says…" AJ started, smile never leaving at the game the three have going.

"Two of them." Ren finished with a sigh.

"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down! Making a boatload of lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora said sitting back down with a proud and satisfied grin on her face. Ren sighed again.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren said to Yang and AJ, being the ones that were listening. The former enthralled and the latter just enjoying the crazy story.

"And yet you find a way to correct a dream, which you didn't have and should not know what really happened but hey, I gave up on figuring that out last week." AJ said.

"I thought it was the week before." Ren said.

"Actually I think you're right." AJ conceded after a moment of thought.

"Jaune, are you ok?" Pyrrha asked from the other end of the table. Everyone now turned to the new conversation going on.

Jaune was just picking at his food and not eating, it seemed to take a few seconds for his brain to realize he was being asked something and he jumped in surprise. "Huh? Oh! Ya. Why?" He asked lamely.

"Well it's just you seem a little… not ok." Ruby said hesitantly.

"Yeah, ever since the fight earlier today." AJ's voice was heard at the other end of the table.

"Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Said Pyrrha.

"And me after my big reveal." AJ said.

Cardin and his group could be seen surrounding a lone rabbit Faunus girl and laughing at her. Needless to say, AJ heard chains being pulled again.

Everyone looked at this but it didn't get away from the conversation. "Who? Cardin Winchester? He just liked to mess around, you know, practical jokes!" Jaune said feebly.

"Do not defend that bully Jaune." AJ said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"Oh please! Name one time he's "bullied" me." Jaune put up air quotes.

"Knocked books out of your hands activated your shield in a doorway trapping you and launching you into space with a rocket-propelled weapon locker." AJ said without pause. Leaning forward and glaring at Jaune showing that he had he made his point. Everyone now looked at Jaune awaiting a response.

"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune laughed it off like it was nothing.

"You could have landed VERY far from the school and he wouldn't have cared! STOP defending him!" AJ almost yelled. The others didn't like how mean he was about it but it was just the way he did things like this, he did say he can't stand stupidity and they have to agree, defending Cardin is pretty stupid.

"Jaune, if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha suggested.

Nora gasped with an idea. "WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" She yelled. Everyone but AJ sweatdropped at the outburst, AJ simply looked at her like this was a casual thing as he talked.

"No Nora, that's a bit too much, just one leg. Actually no, that's still too much maybe just one of his arms… Or his nose." He said with a hand to his chin in thought.

"AJ, don't encourage her." Blake said with an exasperated sigh.

"Guys really, its. Fine. Besides, it's not like he's a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune said as he got up and took his tray elsewhere.

"That's even worse!" AJ whispered loudly, throwing his arms in the air dramatically before facepalming. Laughing was heard in the distance and they all looked at the rabbit girl who was now having her ears pulled on by Cardin while him and his team, laughed.

"Ha! See, it's real, I told you!"

"What a freak!"

"Haha!"

"Please stop." The girl calmly asked in some sort of Australian accent or something. Cardin let go and she was able to walk away with her tray of food.

AJ heard chains pulled on harder and he even heard a low growl from the wolf, what was surprising was AJ started to make that low growl and everyone was both terrified of that non-human growl and the dark Aura that they felt from him.

"That's not a cat." Blake said with fear in her voice at the implications of that detail.

"Whoa, AJ calm down, there's no need to-"Yang put a hand on his shoulder and his head jerked in her direction. He was gritting his teeth which had become very sharp and for just a second, she thought his eyes were blood red but she blinked in fear of the sudden motion and his eyes were back to the bright green with gold flecks. He calmed down slightly and his teeth were normal again and he quickly got up and left. Anger still resonated form every step he took. The bell rang later and they went to their next class, history with Oobleck.

* * *

Oobleck is the teacher that everyone can't follow because he moves around the class like a green blur. Part of his shirt isn't tucked in, he is drinking coffee more than Ozpin, and normally he's talking really fast, but today he's talking normal speed, probably. It's so much slower than normal at least. All you can tell is he is talking slower… He's still a blur as he dashes through the class though. Coffee or semblance? No one can tell. Jaune sure can't tell seeing as he's asleep right now, which is normal for him in this class.

"…this is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution also known as the Faunus war." The teacher said before he appeared in front of the map in the back of the class. "Mankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus populations in Menagerie." He dashed to the side, took another sip of coffee and then appeared in the front of the class. "Now, while this may feel like ancient history to many of you, it is important to remember that these are relatively recent events." Seriously if you could see the whole class at once you would see a few heads have given up at keeping track of him while the rest rapidly move from one side of the class to the other trying to keep track of Oobleck. "Why the repercussions of this event can still be seen to this day." He said at normal person speed as he dashed across the whole front of the class. "Now, have any of you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" He asked as he took another sip of coffee and dashed around the front again. AJ, who was to the right of Weiss who sat behind Blake, that rabbit girl, who sat in front of Blake, and a few others raised their hands throughout the class. "Dreadful! Simply dreadful! Remember students it is this kind of ignorance that breeds violence." He takes ANOTHER sip of coffee and actually starts to speed up his speech now. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!" *Dash* "Now! Which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Weiss raised her hand.

"The battle of Fort Castle." AJ's eyebrows went up slightly as he just remembered this part of his private history lessons.

"Precisely!" Oobleck said from all the way in the back of his class behind his desk now. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over the general's forces?" He asked. Cardin flicked a piece of paper onto Jaune's head from his seat above him and it woke Jaune up.

"Hey!" Jaune said as he woke up. Oobleck appeared in front of the clueless blond.

"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class I see! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" The teacher asked. Jaune looked at his friends desperately trying to get a clue from them. Pyrrha, who sat to the left of Blake, was pointing at her eyes, AJ would have helped the dork but the only thing you could really do was point at your eyes and hoped he guessed, which is what Pyrrha is already doing.

"Binoculars!" Jaune spouted out. Everyone laughed at the perceived joke, or at the fact they knew he guessed horribly. Oobleck took a sip of coffee is disappointment if that was a thing. He appeared behind his desk again.

"Very funny Mr. Arc." Un-amusement filled his voice. "Cardin! Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject!"

'Oh this should be good.' AJ thought. It was physical things that got him angry, but the stupid things Cardin says are just amusing.

"Well I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin said. A terrible fake laugh was heard to his right and he saw a Faunus he hated more than all the others.

"Oh you are just the embodiment of open minded! Aren't ya Cardin!" AJ said with a smile that may not have been 100% fake.

"Hey! You got a problem!?" Cardin asked.

'I think you're the one with the real problem here.' "Yeah, but I also have the answer, its night vision." AJ said. "The general thought he could ambush them in their sleep, despite the massive army he had, he lost and was captured." Oobleck smiled at the fact that AJ remembered this without ever being given an assignment. "Odd that he could forget such a detail about his enemy, maybe if he paid attention in school he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." The last part he said with a smug smile towards Cardin, who stood up in anger.

"Mr. Winchester, please take your seat." Cardin sat back down. Jaune laughed at the bully getting told what to do which resulted in him AND Cardin having to stay after class for extra assignments.

Pyrrha told her team to go on ahead and that she would wait for Jaune, AJ heard this and said he would wait as well. Eventually the teacher left the class as a blur and Jaune came out of the class only to be knocked down by Cardin. Pyrrha helped him up and AJ started to walk towards Cardin who was walking away laughing.

"AJ wait." Pyrrha said. AJ stopped and looked at Jaune.

"I think I might just break one of his legs." AJ said as he walked back to them.

"Wait! I have an idea! Come on!" Pyrrha grabbed Jaune and dragged him away and AJ followed them, they eventually made it to one of the roofs. Jaune walked over to the edge.

"Guys, I know I'm having a hard time but I'm not THAT depressed. I can just be a farmer or something." Jaune said and Pyrrha quickly pulled him away from the edge.

"No, that's not why I brought you up here! Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class so, I want to help you!" She said with a smile.

"What? You guys think I need help?" He was depressed now and AJ couldn't believe he was taking it that way.

"Yes Jaune! You need help! I need help! Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, all of us need help! Not just you!" AJ said.

"We can train up here where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha said. "AJ could help if he wants." She said looking at him.

"No that's ok. He's your teammate." AJ said and Pyrrha gave a look that said 'thank you.'

"Jaune you made it to Beacon like everyone else here!" Pyrrha said. Jaune looked away from them.

"You're wrong, I don't belong here." Jaune said.

"What? That's a terrible thing to say of course you do!" Pyrrha said while AJ was wide eyed about something.

"No! I don't!" Jaune turned around and yelled at them, then looked down away from them.

"Jaune… how did you get into Beacon?..." AJ asked hesitantly after a pause. He could be over thinking this, but that didn't just sound like a lack of confidence.

"I… didn't go to combat school. I didn't train! I didn't get accepted into this academy! I lied! I got my hands on fake transcripts, and I lied!" Jaune yelled.

"Why would you do that?" AJ asked. Pyrrha was surprised he didn't sound angry at this info.

"Because this is what I always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father were all heroes! I wanted to be just like them…" Jaune said depressingly.

"Then let me train you!" Pyrrha pleaded.

"Yeah. I'll help too if that's what this is about. We can make you a badass Jaune! We could help you reach your dream and show them you can do this!" AJ said with a confident smile.

"I don't want HELP! I don't want to be the damsel in distress I want to be the hero!" Jaune yelled at them again, making AJ lose his smile. "I'm tired, of being the lovable idiot! Stuck in a tree while my friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand!? If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?"

AJ switched emotions on a dime and was yelling at him louder. "YOU DON'T GET TO ALWAYS BE THE HERO! With all my powers I'm no hero! I learned to do this with help, and I could NEVER have done this on my own! LIFE ISNT A GODDAMN FAIRY TALE YOU IDIOT!" He yelled quite loudly and Jaune and Pyrrha both backed up from him in fear. "You know what!? Let him do this on his own Pyrrha! He wants to be the hero! Let him try on his own and fail then!" He said to her and motioned to leave. "But don't come crying to us when you need help!" He yelled at Jaune again, fed up with his stupidity. Jaune looked away from them in shame and Pyrrha left, AJ walked up to him and turned him around, Jaune stared at a very pissed off face, and he was getting poked in the chest. "You are on a TEAM now Jaune. You don't GET to do things on your own anymore." And with that AJ finally left and went to destroy some training bots instead of sleeping.

* * *

 **I really don't have anything to say so…**

 **Usual follow fav jazz and**

 **Have a great day!**

 **Now to post the next chapter!**


	7. The Plus One of RWBY Ch7

**On with the story!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.7

* * *

There was the debris of training bots everywhere in the training room AJ was currently in, blowing some steam and training at the same time. Now that he has calmed down he decided to head back to his room and sleep. Seeing as it was already late when he started cutting down the bots, it's probably almost 2 in the morning, which wasn't that late for him really.

A couple weeks later and it was pretty obvious AJ wanted little to do with Jaune, and Jaune wouldn't talk to any of them either, and he was always around Cardin of all people! Another day, more classes, talking at lunch, having fun, few more classes… just a bunch a friends getting along outside Jaune's behavior. Unless you were a part of the group, then you would see all that but you would also see AJ's dislike of Jaune, Pyrrha's concern of the blond, and the entire group really wondering what was going on. Yang decided to try and lighten the mood with her teasing, which doesn't exactly lighten it for the ones being teased. She started to recount an event that had happened the week before but AJ stopped her, which only meant that _he_ had to explain the whole thing now.

 _Last week_

They do this at least once a week, go into town, go shopping, getting what they need and maybe a few things that they want. Blake wanted to go to a book store and AJ went with her to see if there was anything interesting there. Yang teased them before following Ruby and Weiss to a Dust shop in another part of town. Team JNPR would initially go together but Ren would have to leave them to keep an eye on Nora.

The two Faunus, only one of them showing it, arrived at Tukson's Book Trade and were welcomed by the owner. He would have welcomed them even if they were humans but he knew Blake as a regular customer and her friend was openly showing his Faunus heritage, so Tukson, the owner and secret Faunus welcomed them with open arms to say the least.

"Hey Blake! Good to see you again! This your boyfriend?" Tukson asked. They both blushed but while Blake momentarily glared at him the tall but thin boy came up to him and shook his hand.

"Hi, I go by AJ, and no." AJ finished with a slight glare as well, more of just a frown really.

Blake checked her usual spot for books and AJ looked all around for anything that seemed interesting and he actually stopped and looked at a lot of books. It was funny from Tukson's point of view to see Blake quickly check the more… private books that she likes and continue to look around in case AJ came around when AJ never got anywhere near her, he seemed interested in the area he was in, although it might have just been that he liked books of all kinds and just ended up over there for a long time. At one point AJ felt dizzy and said he was gonna step outside for a moment and he went outside and saw something that REALLY caught his eye, a video game store.

"Hey Blake? I'm gonna go check a store down the road, ok?" AJ asked from the doorway.

"Hang on a minute. Let me finish up and I'll go with you." Blake said while still looking at the shelves.

"I'm a big boy, I'll be fine." He argued.

"Just wait a few." She demanded.

AJ sighed and walked back in and talked with Tukson for a bit until Blake came up and paid for a pair of books and handed one to AJ.

"Here, you might like this one." She said to him.

"Oh, thanks." AJ thanked with a smile.

"Alright now don't get in trouble you two." Tukson said teasingly, that was a real glare the boy gave him this time.

Oh but they _would_ get in trouble.

They walked out and AJ started walking towards some store fairly quickly and Blake followed. Blake was about to ask what the store was when he walked in and she quickly followed and saw the video games in shelves everywhere. He walked towards the VERY large section of games that were split into more sections. This entire section had games AJ recognized all too well. The rest of the games in the other parts of the store had games with Grimm in them but all these were games from his world. 'Halo… COD…. Battlefield… Destiny… Gears of War and other games that I don't play but still. EVERYTHING IS HERE! YES! THIS WORLD COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER!' Blake couldn't help but notice how incredibly happy he looked and while it made her feel happy and kind of… odd at the same time, she also wondered what he was so happy about.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing that I can really explain, what matters is that these are here. I am SO coming back here later!" He said with excitement evident in his voice.

"Alright gamer boy." Blake said with a chuckle. "Well we got what we need so we could just explore until it's time to meet up with the others." She suggested and he hesitantly left the store.

They walked around for quite awhile, looking at all the different shops. Coffee shops, more Dust shops, weapon stores, stores where you pay to have a custom weapon or armor piece made, there was a lot to see in Vale.

They also were pretty sure they saw Nora go by riding a robotic dinosaur but as they were about to agree that they had to be seeing things they saw Ren run in the same direction so they had to concede they did, in fact, just see Nora.

They still had a lot of time actually since apparently Ruby kept getting distracted and delayed Yang and Weiss, at this rate they might walk through the entire shop district! Blake said she was thirsty a while ago but they had no money left to get anything and had forgotten to bring any water. At one point they noticed someone was giving free taste tests of some sort of drink, and they would agree it was reckless afterwards, but for now she needed something to drink so she jumped at the opportunity. She also may have had five of the small containers of clear liquid but she apologized saying she hadn't had anything to drink in a while and the man forgave them and they continued on their way.

"You know that was kind of a bad idea. He never actually said what you were drinking." AJ said to her as they walked side by side.

"I know but I was just so thirsty." Blake said with an expression that said she was sorry.

It would be awhile before AJ saw a message from Yang saying that they were done and that they all could head back to the docking station for the ships to take us to Beacon. But just as they started to head back he heard Blake giggle, a cute giggle, but still why? He looked to his right and saw her look at him with a smile. He raised an eyebrow effectively saying "What's so funny?" and she just covered her mouth, blushed, and giggled again. AJ rolled his eyes and simply tried to ignore her odd behavior and immediately thought she shouldn't have had those free drinks. Then he felt her hug his arm and he blushed and looked down at her and saw she was leaning on him and hugging his arm.

"Blake… what are you doing?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Blake said as she looked up at him and giggled again.

"Are you drunk?" He deadpanned, deciding to get straight to the point, even though she might not be thinking straight anymore.

"What? Noooo!" She waved him off.

AJ couldn't say he hated this but he worried about what Yang would say. He tried to walk faster but Blake wouldn't walk any faster.

"AJ, what's wrong? There's no need to run, we can just take our time." Blake suggested happily.

AJ thought about this and realized she wouldn't listen to reason right now. He needed a way to get her to hurry up, or maybe he could carry her… "Hey Blake?"

"Hmm?" She smiled cutely at him and he lost his focus for a moment. "Um…" She saw this and tried to keep the smile going so they could just walk quietly. He blushed and shook his head to get his focus back.

"Do you… want a piggy back ride?" He asked hesitantly, not really sure why he thought she would believe this but found her acting just a bit like a child so… maybe?

"OH! Can I!?" She asked excitedly and he nodded, surprised this was working.

Whatever she drank had her acting drunk in some ways and a child in other ways, and in love in a way… 'Yeah right, like that would happen'

Now Blake was squealing in delight and giggling as she had her arms around his neck and he held onto her legs at his sides, as he jumped across rooftops to beat the others and get on an early flight. They would, of course, get seen by police and chased.

At one point AJ looked down at the police that were chasing him and missed a jump and fell into an alley. He turned one way and saw a dead end, and the other way had two officers waiting for them.

"Just stop running and put the girl down!" One officer yelled.

AJ walked up towards them. "Look officers I would like to say there is a perfectly good explanation for this but frankly I have no idea what's up with her." He said and then jumped at one of them and used his face as a stepping stone and jumped off the wall to get back on the roof.

"WHOOHOOO!" Blake cheered. "Do it again! Do it again!"

"Absolutely not!" He yelled.

They eventually got away and made it onto a different ship then they agreed to meet at and sat down. AJ now had to control her, keep her from being too loud or getting up to look at something. He imagined this was a very tame version of Ren and Nora.

She was distracted with looking out the window while they were in the air but got bored of that half way through and was now leaning on him, asleep. He ended up having to carry her while she slept all the way to their dorm. People looked at him as he walked, wondering what happened, but he had no time to answer questions. He set her down on her bed and Ozpin walked in.

"Why is Miss Belladonna asleep and why did I see police reports fitting the description of you two?" His voice was full of curiosity and he wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead he wondered what interesting things could have caused this.

Once AJ explained everything they had some medical tests done and it seems she would be fine but they couldn't identify the substance. Of course when people were sent to arrest the man that was giving this out he was nowhere to be found. Blake eventually woke up and spent the rest of the day clinging to AJ and he blushed in embarrassment when people saw, especially when he had to explain it to the rest of RWBY.

"So you tried to get her drunk and take advantage of her?" Yang asked teasingly as he had never said anything like that during his explanation.

"No, Yang, of course not!" His glare was made a bit more threatening by his height but was lowered by his thinness and the fact that Blake was clinging to his arm… and meowing… and occasionally purring. Oh and giggling like she was drunk, she was also doing that.

Blake would wake up the next day with no memory of what had happened since awhile after the drinks.

 _End flashback_

"Well that explains a lot." Pyrrha said when the story was finished.

"Yep, and it was pretty clear AJ enjoyed every second of Blake clinging to him!" Yang teased, and the two Faunus sank in their seats and blushed as they were teased almost endlessly, especially Blake with all her odd behavior while she was, for lack of a better description, 'drunk'.

The rest of lunch went that way until the last classes started.

* * *

A field trip was coming in two days and everyone went to bed excited for the change of pace coming soon. AJ had somehow managed to get away with his room being next to his friends' dorms. They were gonna be in for a shock when they realize it after all this time, AJ smiled at the thought before Neko cuddled up to him and he finally fell asleep.

He woke up in infinite white, he couldn't think straight for some reason, but he could tell that there was nothing here. His face suddenly filled with dread and recognition, he started crying, not just tears but sobbing as well.

He opened his eyes and saw he was on his bed and Neko was looking at him with concern. It was hard to see as tears blocked his vision and he was still sobbing.

"It's alright AJ, it was just a nightmare. You're ok." Neko meowed calmingly and AJ wiped away his tears.

"That hasn't happened to me in years, I thought I wouldn't have to deal with that ever again." AJ said.

"What? Deal with what?" Neko asked.

"Nothing important it's something really stupid that I can't explain but I'm ok now." He said to the cat.

Neko wanted answers to what it was that had him in tears but if he didn't want to answer he wouldn't, so Neko stretched and was about to disappear back into AJ's mind when they heard a voice from the door along with knocking.

"AJ? Is that you?" A familiar voice asked.

"Is this seriously your private room!? Right next to us!?" A voice that was clearly Yang's yelled/asked. Apparently he woke up late and RWBY walked by and heard his voice.

AJ got up and opened the door. "Hey guys." He said with a sheepish laugh and smile. "Plot twist, riiight?"

"You were right freaking next to us the whole time!?" Yang yelled again.

AJ nodded hesitantly.

Weiss face palmed.

"AJ, are you ok?" Blake asked with concern. Everyone looked at him closer and realized the signs that he had just been crying a lot.

"Yes guys, I'm fine. Now I still need to get ready so if you could just go cause I gotta change clothes and-" He was interrupted by Blake stepping into the room towards him.

"AJ, it's clear you are not ok, tell me what's wrong." Blake asked. Yang wanted to bring up the fact that she said 'me' not 'us' but decided against it.

"It's nothing, it was just a nightmare ok?" He pleaded, hoping she would leave it be.

She wouldn't. "AJ please, I know how bad a nightmare can be, you can talk to us about it, please." Blake pleaded.

He found it hard to say no to her. The rest of RWBY was in the room now and AJ was sitting on his bed petting Neko.

"It's the only thing I will never be able to understand." He started. "Just me and infinite emptiness and there is this silence, but it's like I can feel the silence and the silence is deafening as well. For some reason this absolute lack of sound brings out this crippling fear and I just start crying and sobbing and I can't stop till I wake up and the feeling goes away. I have had this nightmare a few times before but that was years ago. I haven't had that nightmare in years but the feeling did actually come out once when I was awake, suddenly everything was quiet and I could feel that… feeling coming out and I started talking to my self loudly to make it go away… I don't know why this silence is something I can hear and I yell at it telling it to shut up but it feels like I can hear the silence and it is deafening. I just don't know why this nightmare ever happened in the first place."

Blake had a hand on his back comforting him and they all looked very sorry that their friend had gone through this, Ruby of course hugged him again and Blake actually copied her leader and hugged him as well.

AJ was now blushing slightly but continued. "Then there is another version of the dream. Where I'm walking through town and there are people everywhere and their all smiling and happy and yet despite the city being active I can't hear anything, and the feeling comes back and I start crying again. People see me crying and they continue smiling and say cheer up and walk away and it pisses me off that they think it's a simple problem I can just think away. I only had that version of the dream once, its otherwise emptiness and silence, like now." Both girls tightened their hugs and he leaned on Blake's shoulders.

"Well we're here now and we can help you if it ever happens again. We'll wait outside for you to get ready and then we'll stay with you for the rest of the day, how's that?" Yang said honestly and AJ smiled greatly at the fact that these people weren't just 'friends' they really cared for him. "Or would you like to just have Blake around?" Yang said teasingly and the two Faunus blushed and glared at her giving Yang her reason to laugh again. Weiss dragged Yang out and Ruby let go.

"I had nightmares too when I was little. Yang would always be there for me and she would hold me till I felt better." Ruby said before leaving.

"Yang's right, we take care of our friends, that's what friends are for right? A shoulder to lean on." Blake said before letting go of him and walking towards the door.

"No." AJ said and she stopped at the door to look at him. "Friends are the people you get along with and hang out with. Best friends are the ones that really understand you and are there for you when you need them." He said with a smile as he looked at her. She smiled as well, nodded in agreement and left. AJ showered quickly, got ready, and went out his room to find they had actually waited. He smiled at them and they smiled back, even Weiss had the slight signs of a smile but masked it by rolling her eyes at all of them.

It was a nice day for him and his friends, another normal day, but this time his friends stayed with him and were even nicer than usual. He was pretty much smiling and talking the entire day, as opposed to his normal staying in his own thoughts unless he had something to say. He would never take for granted this group of friends. Of course Yang wouldn't let him get through the day without being teased so she teased him about the story that was told yesterday before going to bed, and so he ended up falling asleep with that still in mind.

He was walking down a street that seemed familiar and he looked around in confusion as he walked. Everything was hazy in his mind, he couldn't remember why he was here or what he was doing. He heard giggling and saw Blake next to him. He raised a brow at her and she blushed, giggled again, and looked away from him. He decided to ignore her and figure things out while they walked but soon was pulled out of his thoughts by warmth on his right side.

"Ah!" He shouted and looked and saw her hugging his right arm with both of hers and was also holding his hand, for some reason he wasn't wearing his fingerless gloves and could feel her hand completely. "Blake?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hmm?" She asked and smiled cutely at him, he lost the ability to focus and just looked at her for a few seconds, "Um…" before she giggled in accomplishment and kissed him on the cheek. He went wide eyed and blushed heavily as he stared forward and continued to walk with her still hugging his arm and holding his hand. He couldn't get his ability to think back anymore so he simply enjoyed the moment.

He woke up and realized that was 1: A dream. 2: It was the same thing that had happened with him and Blake but it…changed. Well no time to think about that they have classes and a field trip to go through.

* * *

A red forest. Imagine that, a red forest. Beautiful crimson red leaves falling and grass the same color and birds chirping to finish off the scene. It truly was beautiful and AJ wondered how this was possible, it sure didn't exist in his world. He looked forward for a moment and saw every other student was looking around as well. He couldn't help but stare at Blake a bit too long. 'It was just a dream you idiot!'

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." Glynda said as she walked at the front of the group. "But, we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach had asked all of you to collect sap from the trees deep within this forest. And I am to make sure none of you die while doing so." She said as she stopped and turned around, the entire group stopped except for Jaune who wasn't paying attention and bumped into Cardin. "Each of you are to gather one jars worth of red sap. However, the forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, they are attracted to the sap, so stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous at four o'clock, have fun!"

The teams split up with Cardin's team plus Jaune going elsewhere while RWBY plus AJ and NPR of JNPR went together.

Everyone stood or crouched near a few trees and soon had full jars of sap. AJ was taking longer than others to fill his and he decided to use his claws and poked one small hole in the tree which had the sap pouring out. He saw it on his finger and was about to wipe it off when he looked over his shoulder and saw Nora drink a whole jar of the sap and decided there was nothing wrong with licking the sap off. 'I hate new trying new things why am I doing this?' He licked it anyway and found it was actually kinda sugary and understood why Nora drank a whole jar of it. Things were largely uneventful and they all sat around having finished their jar filling awhile ago, AJ would either look at Blake too long or avoid her entirely. Eventually AJ's ears turned in one direction and Blake noticed.

"AJ? What is it?" She asked. AJ decided to stop being secret about what he was sensing and actually looked in the direction his ears were turned towards. (Obviously I mean the cat ears)

"I just felt a strong pulse of Aura, don't know who but I think a student might be in danger." The Faunus boy answered.

"Can you normally sense Aura's?" Weiss asked.

"No but that was a strong enough pulse for me to feel it, it's nowhere near the Aura I have but it is quite a bit more that I would expect from any of you." He answered.

There was a roar in the distance and everyone stood up.

"You guys heard that right?" Ruby asked and the three other members of Cardin's team came out and were running away yelling "Ursa! Ursa!" One ran into Yang and she held him by his collar.

"What? Where!?" Yang demanded.

"Back there! It's got Cardin!"

"Alright, let's go save the fool." AJ said with a sigh. Pyrrha's eyes went wide.

"Jaune!" She yelled.

AJ looked at her. "Jaune?" He remembered Jaune was always with Cardin and his eyes went wide. "Oh shit! We gotta hurry!" He yelled.

"Blake, Yang, go find professor Goodwitch!" Ruby's leadership role took over.

Pyrrha pointed at Ren and Nora. "Go with them! There could be more." The four nodded and went to find Glynda.

"I'll go with you." AJ said to Ruby.

"Me too." Weiss said and followed them towards the sound of an Ursa Major.

They got to a clearing and saw a big Ursa fighting Cardin who had no weapon, he had red sap on his armor that was attracting the Grimm. It struck at him with its massive claws and it was blocked by Jaune's shield. He was struggling against the strength of the Grimm and AJ pulled out his bow while Weiss readied her rapier.

"Wait." Pyrrha said to them both and Weiss relaxed while AJ kept his bow aimed and ready if this went south.

Jaune pushed the Grimm off and struck it with his sword it leaned back from the blow and while still on its hind legs, lashed out at the blond who rolled out of the way. It swept its left claw along the group and Jaune jumped over it but was hit midair by its right and he hit the ground, but got back up and charged again. He was hit midair again and sent past the Ursa Major. He stood up again and the Grimm took position before him, they both charged and Jaune was about to hit the Grimm but his shield was out of the way with his swing, the Grimm was gonna hit him hard if they didn't do something. Pyrrha but her hand out and it glowed with her Aura and so did Jaune's shield, the shield moved back into place and it easily redirected the blow, Jaune used the opening to swing up with his sword taking the Grimm's head off.

"Um….what?" Ruby asked.

"Whoa." AJ said not in awe, but in surprise, clearly seeing the Spartan's secret interference.

"How did you-?" Weiss asked.

"Well, Ruby has speed, Weiss had glyphs, and AJ hasn't shown us yet, but my semblance, is Polarity." Pyrrha stated.

"Whoa… You can control poles." Ruby said, astounded.

AJ and Weiss face palmed but AJ laughed as he did it.

"No you dunce, it means she has control over magnetism." Weiss explained.

"Magnets are cool too." Ruby said to herself.

Pyrrha turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, we need to tell them what happened!" Ruby said.

"We could… or…" Pyrrha started.

"Let me guess, we could keep it our little secret?" AJ asked with a knowing smile. Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

Jaune sheathed his sword and helped up Cardin. "Holy crap, Jaune?" Cardin asked. Jaune glared at him.

"Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever, again… Got it?" Jaune said. He walked away from him and found his team congratulating him, all but AJ, who stood outside the group staring at him. He realized he messed up and left the group to talk to him.

"Hey, AJ, I'm sorry, I get it, I messed up and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you I-" Jaune stared.

"No, Jaune, there are times when you need to raise your voice to make a point, it showed you felt strongly about it and I left you alone with that. I really don't care that you yelled, but after seeing how you barely made it through that fight, do you see now that you need your team's help?" AJ had yet to smile so far.

Jaune thought about it for a few seconds. "Yes, I see now that I can't do everything by myself. I'll take up Pyrrha's offer." The moment Jaune finished talking AJ smiled.

"Good! I hoped you would come to your senses eventually!" AJ said as he patted Jaune on the back. Jaune smiled in relief.

Later that day, when everyone was getting ready to go to sleep, AJ walked by the door to the roof he would always hang out at and he heard voices from the door to another roof.

"Your team really misses their leader you know." It was Pyrrha talking to Jaune. "You should come down, Ren made pancakes! No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" Jaune called to her. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but…would you, still be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter?" AJ saw through the crack of the door being open that Pyrrha turned away from him to hide a smile before walking up to him and pushing him down. "Hey!" Jaune whined.

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha said and helped him up. "Let's try that again." They trained for about half an hour since it was already dark and Pyrrha lagged behind Jaune as they went back to their dorm but she was grabbed by the arm and she turned and saw AJ.

"If I ever fall in love, I hope I'm not as hopelessly lovestruck as you are now." AJ said with a smile and Pyrrha blushed.

"Don't you have a thing for Blake?" She tried to get him back.

"You're just saying that cause we're both Faunus huh?" AJ shot back.

"No, but you're both cat Faunus, and you both glance at each other all the time, and today I noticed you staring at her more than usual and blushing or avoiding her entirely. You both smile when you talk to each other, and she gives you her undivided attention if you speak to her, even if she was reading, so… if not you, then _she_ definitely has a thing for you." She teased, understanding why Yang always did this to the two Faunus.

"Yeah right, like that would happen." AJ tried to shrug the accusations off.

"AJ, you both clearly like each other. Don't even try to say that you aren't good enough for her or that you will never find love because I'm telling you she likes you, and you like her." Pyrrha said.

AJ simply walked away from her after stuttering a response and giving up.

* * *

Two weeks later and it was another day in Goodwitch's class. RWBY hadn't fought in a while, assuming it was bad luck with the randomizer. It wasn't a small class so it isn't a guarantee they would fight on any given day but this was a new record of days that they didn't fight. So it was certainly a twist when the two that were called up were both members of team RWBY, AJ and Weiss. They nodded at each other when they got to the stage and readied their swords.

"Begin."

Weiss immediately put a glyph at her feet and shot towards him, he didn't move but instead but a glyph in front of him to block her. She used another glyph to get to his right but he used his sword to block just in time. She repeated this a few times until a sudden attack knocked her away and took a bit of her Aura, he had that damn smile again. She switched to ice Dust with her rapier and stabbed the ground creating a trail of ice that would have trapped him if he hadn't jumped out of the way and suddenly shot toward her without using a glyph, she parried and struck back and got a few hits before he parried her attack and punched her in the chest knocking her down. She jumped up angry at him and switched to fire dust but he dodged the trail of fire as well.

"I need to figure out how to use Dust. I wanna be able to do that." AJ said before pointing a bow at her.

She prepared to block or dodge the arrow but instead he disappeared and she was hit in the back, she turned around and was sliced two more times before being kicked away. She stood up and saw she had less than half Aura and he had most of his Aura. AJ prepared to attack her but saw her focus and a clock appeared on the ground and sped up rapidly before disappearing and leaving her glowing green. She surrounded him with glyphs and went from one to the other and hit him again and again as she dashed around. He had little Aura to keep him above red and she knocked his sword away,

'He should be down after that many hits, how much Aura does he really have?' She thought.

Before she could make more glyphs and attack again he released his Aura and charged, she still had her speed and damage boost and was confident in her skills so she charged as well. Even without his sword he had guards he could use to block her sword and it was a flurry of blocks and punches from him, and lunges and slashes from her, she had to dodge the punches. He kept up well and eventually managed to hit her again and continued with his claws easily putting her on the defensive and he kept sneaking in a hit until he went to punch her in the face and stopped just before he hit her and she froze. She looked at her Aura and saw she was in the red already.

"It's not fair! You did that to the others you fought as well! You would just unleash your Aura if you were about to lose!" Weiss complained.

"Hey, you did good Weiss. And, I'm sorry that I have a backup plan." He said sarcastically, before helping her over to their friends who congratulated them on their match, and Yang complained that she didn't get to go.

"You are rapidly improving AJ." Pyrrha pointed out, Ren nodded in agreement. AJ as usual brushed it off and shied away from anyone's praise.

* * *

It was another week later and team RWBY was walking through the city of Vale, there were balloons and decorations everywhere in green, red, and yellow. A 'Welcome To Vale!' sign was being raised as well.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss said with a smile.

"I've never seen you smile so much Weiss." Ruby said.

"Yeah, it's almost kinda creepy." AJ said.

"How could you not smile though? It's a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be parades, dances, a tournament! Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into all this is simply breathtaking!" Weiss said smiling and excited to a level they had never seen before. They began walking down the street.

"Wow, you really know how to take a great thing and make it sound boring." Yang said and was apparently serious, not just teasing.

"No really if you think about it, it looks cool on the outside but it took a lot to make it all happen." AJ said in one of his rare moments where he agrees with Weiss. Weiss smiled at him and inwardly thought just a bit better of him.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't listening, again, so remind me, why are we at the docks?" AJ asked.

Ruby plugged her nose. "It smells like fish."

'It _is_ the docks.'

"I've heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship here today." Weiss said before turning towards them and adopting her noble posture and speaking. "And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

They started walking towards the walkway that passengers of the boat would go through to leave the docks.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake said to the rest of them and Weiss turned around towards them.

"You can't prove that." Weiss stated.

"And _you_ won't deny it completely." AJ said to Weiss who glared at him.

"Whoa." Ruby said and they all stopped to look at her and then what she was looking at. A shop with broken windows and yellow police tape around the area. To detectives we at the scene and the team approached them.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked and AJ was looking past the tape and investigating the scene the best he could without going past the tape.

"Robbery, second Dust shop this week, place is turning into a jungle." The detective on the left, with a beard and glasses said.

"That's terrible." Yang said saddened by the news.

"They left all the money again." The other detective said, he had glasses as well but no beard.

"Oh really?" AJ asked curious.

"It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" The bearded one asked his partner.

"I don't know, an army?"

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?"

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough." The beardless one said taking off his glasses.

"All I see is a shop striped off all things Dust related. Money left alone means this isn't for normal profit." AJ said and the detectives would normally keep civilians out of this but these were clearly Huntsman school students and the kid sounded like someone who wasn't incompetent so they didn't shut him up immediately. "Maybe they want to sell the Dust. But in that case you would have taken the money as well. If they are stealing Dust from stores then it would be in preparation for something. I understand someone stocking up for winter but this is way more than that. It would have to be a group, the White Fang for instance, preparing for war, but then with who? If it was said group the target is obvious but if it was some other group then we have no idea who could be the target. Regardless this lack of Dust means it will be used elsewhere and likely put innocent lives in danger. These people are smart then." The detectives were officially impressed, AJ turned to his friends. "Ozpin should probably hear about this." All but Weiss nodded in agreement. Weiss was too busy in her own thoughts.

"It's got to be the White Fang. A bunch of degenerates all of them." Weiss said.

"Geez, what's your problem?" Blake asked.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

'Aaaaaand the biased thoughts are back...'

"The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They are a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake said.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity of the face of the planet!" Weiss said angrily.

AJ jumped in. "Still qualifies as misguided."

"Either way it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale." Blake said.

"Don't jump to conclusions anyway Weiss. It could be Torchwich, that criminal Ruby fought." AJ explained, noticing how tense Blake was.

"That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie cheat and steal." Weiss stated.

" _Filthy animal."_

" _Damn Faunus!"_

" _Hold him down!"_

"Hey! Watch it Weiss! I'm right here, and I do NOT, lie, cheat, or STEAL!" AJ barely managed not to yell. "And neither does Blake." He said quietly so others wouldn't hear. "And would you just drop it instead of continuing your clearly biased rant." He demanded.

"Yeah Weiss, Faunus aren't like that." Yang said before hearing someone yell "Stop that Faunus!"

'Great, not helping our point here.' AJ sighed and the team ran back to the docks and saw a blond boy with a monkey tail running and jumping off of a ship.

"Thanks for the ride guys!" he yelled as he jumped.

"No good stowaway!" The men yelled.

"Hey! A no good stowaway would have been caught, I'm a great stowaway!" The boy said and AJ laughed a little. The detectives from earlier approached the monkey boy who was now hanging from a light post with his tail and eating a banana.

"Get down from there!" The bearded one demanded and was met with a banana peel in the face. The Faunus ran away and they gave chase. As he ran by team RWBY he turned to Blake and AJ and pointed at them with two finger pistols without losing momentum and said "Sup." before continuing running.

"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition? Well theeeere it goes." Yang pointed out.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss yelled before racing after the detectives and the Faunus. AJ and Blake looked at each other, AJ rolled his eyes at Weiss' blatant observing before they both started to follow their team.

Weiss would eventually turn a corner while running and hit someone directly but instead of getting up she looked and saw the blond boy get away. "No! He got away!" She whined.

"Weiss!" AJ yelled.

"What!?" Weiss asked, annoyed.

"Pay attention!" AJ yelled while pointing at her.

Before reprimanding him she looked down and saw the girl she had hit was still under her and had a creepy smile.

"Salutations!" The ginger girl said without getting up even though Weiss was off her now.

"Um… hi?" Ruby said awkwardly.

"Are you ok?" AJ asked honestly.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking!" The girl said. The team all looked at each other and while RWBY had a face that said "What is wrong with this chic?" AJ simply had a lightly confused and concerned look.

"Do you… wanna get up?" Blake asked.

"Did you… hit your head or something?" Yang asked.

"I guess I would like to get up, and no, I did not hit my head." The girl said with a smile and finally stood up in one motion. The girls took a step back.

"My name is Penny!" The girl known as penny said.

"Hi Penny! I'm Ruby!"

"Weiss."

"I go by AJ."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" *Nudge* "Oh! I'm Yang!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said.

"You said that already." Weiss pointed out.

Penny seemed to think for a second. "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss said and they all took that as their cue and started walking away.

"Bye friend!" Ruby said as they left.

Once they turned a corner they finally spoke again.

"She was… weird." Yang said awkwardly.

"There was something up about her, that's for sure." AJ said looking at the ground in thought. He suddenly looked up and grabbed Blake's arm to get her attention and pointed forward. They were first to see Penny was now in front of them.

"What did you call me?" Penny said, and the group now realized she was there. Weiss kept looking between where she was and where she is now in disbelief.

"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't think you heard me." Yang said apologetically.

"No not you." Penny walked by Yang and walked up to Ruby. "You." Ruby stuttered out an answer as she didn't know what she had done wrong.

"You called me friend! Am I really your friend?" Penny asked getting in the girl's face. Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder and saw the girls giving a very serious "no" and AJ did so hesitantly and less blatantly after some thought.

"Um… Yeah! Sure! Why not?" Ruby said. The girls fell overdramatically at this and AJ just raised a brow and almost asked out loud "Why?" but settled for mouthing it out.

Penny seemed happy though. "Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like the Faunus boy there!" Penny said pointing at AJ and he tried to ignore the last part only blushing slightly and saying what he was going to say.

"Hey Weiss, doesn't that sound familiar?" He asked her.

"Yes but this girl seems far more coordinated." Weiss said and AJ rolled his eyes again, which he noticed he did a lot around her.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny said.

"You're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said with a salute.

"You don't really look the part, then again, Weiss wears a dress." AJ pointed at Ice Queen.

"Hey! It's a combat skirt!" Weiss said proudly and Ruby jumped to her side.

"Yeah!" They low-fived. AJ face palmed and laughed a little.

Weiss' eyes went wide from realizing something. "So if you aren't from here you might know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion!" Weiss suggested.

"The who?" Penny asked.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss said suddenly holding a crude drawing of said Faunus.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake yelled.

"Stop wording this like the Faunus are the problem, I am RIGHT FUCKING HERE WEISS!" AJ yelled threatening to break the annoying chains in his head.

"Oh I'm sorry. Should I stop calling the trash can a trash can? Or this lamp post a lamp post?" Weiss said pointing at said objects.

"Stop it!" Blake demanded.

"Just drop it already!" AJ yelled, Aura actually leaking out a little.

"Why? He clearly broke the law." Weiss pointed out.

"He's a stowaway! It's not like he killed anyone! It's not like he is a member of the White Fang!" AJ reasoned.

"Give him time and he'll join just like all the other Faunus." Weiss said.

'It's like I'm not even here!'

"YOU IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT/BITCH!" Blake and AJ yelled respectively.

"Just when I started to respect you again you prove you are biased against Faunus!" AJ yelled. He and Blake both started walking away from the group.

"Hey! I am your teammate you two!" Weiss yelled and walked after them.

"Uh, we should probably go." Yang pointed out to her sister.

"Yeah, this is getting out of hand." Ruby said.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked and they told her goodbye and went with their teammates to their dorm.

 _Jump Cut To RWBY Dorms_

"I don't see how this is a problem." Weiss said, now sitting in her bed.

"That's a really big problem then." AJ said annoyed now, since this had gone on for so long and while AJ had mostly stopped the black and white of the team were still going at it full force.

"You realize you two are defending a Faunus group that hates humanity don't you?" Weiss asked.

"I'm defending the Faunus, not that group." AJ pointed out. "You have constantly made this sound like the Faunus are the problem and not that group."

"Because almost all Faunus are members-" Weiss started.

"I'M NOT A MEMBER! Blake isn't either, if she was, Ozpin would know." AJ pointed out. "I got made fun of, and yelled at, and beaten Weiss, BEATEN, for being a Faunus!" He said with tears forming. "and I still didn't join. I didn't get to have a single fucking friend until Yang and Ruby actually talked to me, I figured once they knew what I was that they would hate me as well and I was just not gonna tell them or anyone else but you guys and JNPR showed you weren't like all those other humans. You seemed like someone to share that bias and you never showed it till now, now I'll never be able to respect you! You haven't even said we are an exception to the Faunus! You just keep saying Faunus are terrible to our faces!" AJ yelled.

"You see this Weiss?! It's a pretty common story for Faunus like us if you take out his happy ending. People like YOU cause this! People like you and Cardin make Faunus take drastic action!" Blake yelled.

"Like me?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"YOU'RE DISCIMINATORY!" Blake yelled.

"I'm a victim!" Weiss said and turned to look out the window. "Do you know why I hate the Faunus and the White Fang so much?" she asked in a low tone.

"I can take a good fucking guess! It's a classic right?! Killed family members, maybe even in front of you? Friends went missing? Did they hurt you personally? Did they 'make your childhood difficult'?" AJ questioned.

"HOW DARE YO-" Weiss turned in tears about to yell at him.

" _ **SILENCE!"**_ AJ screamed at the top of his lungs, putting Aura into his voice and his foot as he stomped the ground creating cracks. (Bold, italics, and all caps, get the point?) "I am fucking sorry that all happened to you! I really am! But BEING BIASED IS THE STUPIDEST THING YOU COULD EVER POSSIBLY DO! I DON'T CARE HOW MANY MADE YOUR CHILDHOOD DIFFICULT BUT YOU **NEVER** HAVE THE RIGHT TO BLAME ALL OF THEM FOR IT!" AJ yelled, his voice cracking, shaking from adrenaline, and tears in his eyes.

The room was dead silent for awhile, everyone stunned at how angry he really was about this. It seemed for a while like Blake and Weiss were the ones really into this since AJ had stopped for awhile, but he must have lost his patience. Weiss eventually spoke up.

"Yes," She said quietly before returning to normal volume. "All of that and a little bit more. My dad always came home furious,and that did, in fact, lead to a very difficult child hood. So yes, that's why I hate the White Fang." AJ had been giving her a strong death stare as she spoke, he didn't care to wipe away his tears or to stop shaking. Blake had actually been giving an apologetic look until Weiss raised her voice again.

"I hate, the White Fang, because they are all LIARS! THEIVES! AND MURDERERS!" Weiss yelled again.

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND AFTER ALL YOU DID TO US!" Blake yelled. Everyone's look of shock was clear. AJ's was less than the others but it was there. In desperation Blake recovered from her own look of shock and regained a straight and slightly angry face. "Come on AJ, let's go." She said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him outside. Frankly he didn't care, he wanted to get away from Weiss as well.

But soon Blake broke into tears and was running from him, he chased her until she was in front of the statue in the front of the school. A Huntsman and a Huntress standing over a Beowolf. Blake took off her bow, she was tired of hiding and it didn't matter if she didn't have a team to be with.

"I shouldn't have done that… you need to go back." Blake said sobbing to AJ who was behind her.

"No, I don't want to be anywhere near Weiss." He argued.

"Those are you're only friends and I know how much friends mean to you! You need to go-"

"No, I have you still, I still have someone. And that many friends isn't worth being near Weiss. I'm used to having only one good friend anyway." He said with a smile and hugged her to get her to stop crying. This was his one friend and he would not stand and see her cry. She cried into his chest for awhile until she started to calm down, then they heard a voice.

"Aww, you guys make a cute couple." They look up and see the monkey Faunus from earlier today. "I figured it would happen since you guys are both cat Faunus but I didn't realize it hadn't _already_ happened." He said with a teasing smile.

For once, they smiled back. It was good to see another Faunus.

"I guess I wouldn't mind two good friends." AJ said with a smile.

* * *

 **Damn, I forgot how bad that argument had gotten in this fic… Anyone else actually get angry when you read people arguing and yelling like that? Like, you sort of share their emotion? Cause I sure do.**

 **Wow, it is almost hilarious how screwed I am with the next volume of RWBY starting in like 11 days… There is absolutely no way I can get the full rewrite done in time, even if I double post each day, which I've realized I don't move quick enough to do. Oh well, I guess it won't be the end of the world…**

 **Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying! And thank you everyone that has followed and/or favorited so far! Follow, fav, and don't be rude if you choose to leave a review.**

 **Have a great day everyone!**


	8. Team SPWM Ch1

**Alright, so I figure I should warn you now, the first chapter of this story had been really rushed and I had no idea what I was doing with the story at the time, so… yeah… it kind of moves really quickly with the first chapter, and the first volume in general. BUT, it slows down once it gets into season two.**

 **Also, since this was all written long after TPOoR, there will be a bit of a quality gap between the two.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! I need to post this before the lighting cuts off the power here!**

 **Also, I still want a better name for it but I can't think of one. XD**

* * *

Team S.P.W.M Ch.1

* * *

The Realm of Angels was a cloud realm. There were buildings that sat atop clouds, and there were clouds with nothing atop them but Angels who took the time to rest upon them. The Angels flew about between the clouds and in the buildings.

In the Realm of Angels, there was a very large main building atop a cloud. It had a wondrously large main hall of marble. Its halls had marble floors and ceilings with bronze highlights to everything. The upper half of each wall was bronze as well. In their realm, everything shone and sparkled, everything remained clean and beautiful. Everything was a work of art here. Beautiful glyphs and pictures were etched into every wall where a painting wasn't already present. There are many halls, so many that they often go unused.

In one of those unused halls, behind a wall at one of the dead end halls, is a secret room.

The bronze was replaced with gold in this room. Like everywhere else there was a pure white light that filled the room, with no real source to be found. No shadows existed anywhere in this realm because of this light that shone from nowhere and yet shone everywhere. The light wasn't overpowering or anything, just enough to see well, like natural sunlight. There was a table on the left and right sides of the room, with 2 steps half way into the room there was another two tables at the back wall.

Between the two marble and gold tables there was a glowing white orb that floated just above the level of the two tables that flanked it. The back wall was entirely gold with strange glyphs of another language written in them all the way down the wall, top to bottom.

The angel stood in front of the wall made of gold in confusion.

'It wants me to do what now?' She thought.

The writing on the wall was in a dead language that angels haven't used in a very long time, so it has been taking time to decipher it. Some lines are instructions, some are strange riddles that she has yet to figure out, and some just seem to have no importance whatsoever.

The line she was looking at now was clear instructions, just like the very first lines.

Imagine her confusion when she stumbled upon this secret room, and this strange text, and the first thing it tells it her to do, is take a very specific boy from a very specific version of Earth, and send him to a very specific version of Remnant. It said the boy was important and that he needed to go there…

…but why?

What made this boy so special? Nothing she could see! Why was this boy so important to this prophecy on this wall? Who wrote it? What was the purpose of all this?

One of the riddle lines hinted that this was the way the boy would be trained. Well, from what she understood from the ancient ways of making a mortal your warrior, you personally trained the person! So why does it want her to do this instead? Send him to this world to be trained naturally? Have him figure out everything on his own? Why?

The boy, AJ, he called himself, had been on Remnant for a couple months now. The angel still didn't see what was so special about him, besides what happened when he unlocked his Aura. There does seem to be _something_ different about him, but she didn't know what quite yet.

That's what brought her to this point, staring at the text over and over again, as if she's been reading it wrong every time.

'I am Muriel, the Angel of Emotions! There is no way I deciphered this wrong! But… I have to be wrong… It really wants me to find another version of this boy? What is this prophecy trying to accomplish!? It even specifically says that I need to find someone else! Current events make that a very bad idea! I ask the wrong person for help and they'll send the Archangels after me!'

Muriel let out a sad sigh when she realized there was only one person she could trust with this…

…her sister.

'Maybe I should just do this on my own… ignore what the prophecy wants me to do…'

Despite her own thoughts, she hesitantly sent a message to her sister. Five minutes later, her sister teleported into the room she was in and immediately hugged her.

"Sis! I missed you so much!" The younger angel said happily.

"Ignequa! Let go of me!" Muriel demanded.

Ignequa let go of her sister hesitantly. "Oh! We haven't seen each other in a few thousand years, so I should probably tell you! My name may be Ignequa Terraventa, but I like being called Eraventa more than Ignequa now."

Ignequa Terraventa wore a tight sleeveless shirt and tight pants. Her hair was brown, and her wings were folded against her back, she wasn't using them after all. However, her wings, clothes, and eyes were all split into four colors. Top right area was blue, bottom right was pale yellow, top left was dark red, and bottom left was dark green. Her sister demanded long ago that she never dye her hair those same colors though.

"I don't care, I'm going to call you whatever I want to." Muriel said.

Muriel wore a white business suit with white framed glasses. Her hair was long and brown and she had multicolored eyes. Her white wings were folded against her back like all other angels.

Muriel gave off a vibe much like Glynda's, adult woman with glasses and little time for fun.

Her sister was a busty teen who liked to have fun, no matter what she was doing. Besides her assets, she gave off more of a Ruby vibe.

The Angel of Emotions and the Angel of The Elements…

…They're sisters.

"Why are you still so mean?" Eraventa whined.

"This isn't a family meeting, I need you to do something for me." Muriel said, annoyed.

"Huh? What?" Eraventa asked, now curious.

"Just come over here and I'll show you." Muriel ordered as she walked over to the crystal ball. "See this boy here? He's my warrior, and you need to find a boy just like him on a certain Earth, and make him your own warrior. Got it?"

"Wait, aren't we not allowed to make mortals our warriors!?" Eraventa remembered, beginning to panic. "And why do you want me to do this anyway!?"

"This writing on the wall here, it's some sort of prophecy, and it told me to make this boy my warrior and send him to Remnant. Now it says I need to find someone else, to go to this Earth here." Muriel controlled the viewing orb and had it show one of the many versions of the world Earth. "There is a nearly identical version of this boy here as well, and you need to make him your warrior and send him to this version of Remnant." The orb now showed another one of the many versions of Remnant.

"So… why does the prophecy want you to do this?" Ignequa asked, not really liking the plan.

"It said that the fate of the multiverse depended on the person that discovered this." Muriel answered before grabbing her sister by the shoulders. "It is our duty as angels to protect the multiverse! I had to do what it said!"

"Oh! Well I guess that makes sense." Eraventa said. "Alright, fine. What do I have to do?"

"I'll show you how to do the ritual that will make a mortal your warrior." Muriel said.

She went through the steps and showed her sister exactly how to perform the ritual until she was sure she wouldn't mess it up.

"Now, I should mention that the prophecy said you needed to pull three of his friends to Remnant with him." Muriel said as she got out of the way to let Ignequa perform the ritual.

"Why?" Eraventa asked.

"It said that this would prevent a problem that I will discover later." Muriel answered. "I believe that this is so in case we fail with one version of this boy, we still have a chance with the other. Though I'm curious as to what this prevents from happening."

"Alright… well I'm gonna do the thing now." Eraventa said simply and her sister sighed before silently letting her sister to what she needed to do.

* * *

'This is what I get for going anywhere near the highschool.' A boy thought as he stood up.

He had wavy brown hair that normally was a lighter brown than it currently was, a dark green long sleeve shirt and light brown work pants. His eyes were a dull green that was almost grey, he stood at 6'2 with his shoes on, 6'1 without. He may be tall but was quite thin, he had freckles, had an unnoticeable scar in his right eyebrow. His hair was a bit long.

"Friends are like 'Hey, AJ, come on over to the school, we're meeting there.' I don't want to go near that stupid school! I'm homeschooled for a reason!" AJ said to himself. "And then what happens when I try to go to that hell on Earth? I WAKE UP HERE! WHERE AM IIIII!?"

He growled in frustration. "Now what the hell am I going to do?" He was stuck in the middle of a forest with no idea where he was or what to do. So he just started walking, at one point he realized he was wearing a brown cape with a hood. "Like a Hunter from Destiny. Why do I have this?" He said to himself, but he thought it looked cool and kept it on him.

He walked for awhile and by that point was truly scared for his life, no idea how to survive out here and was hoping to find civilization soon. He was carrying a branch that had fallen and was planning on using it as a weapon. A bush rustled and he turned to see a person standing there, he recognized him immediately.

"Sam!?" AJ asked the boy. The boy had dark brown hair like AJ has currently. Brown eyes, dark brown hair that was almost black, blue short sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans. He stood at 5'9. His hair wasn't as long as AJ's, and it was combed back, sort of like a James Bond villain.

"AJ!?" The boy Sam asked with his fairly deep voice.

…

""What the fuck are you doing here!?"" They both shouted, glad to see another human being in the forest.

"Do you know where we are?" AJ asked Sam.

"No. Do you know how we got here?" Sam asked.

"No. I just remember going to meet you guys at the school and then I was here in the forest."

"We need to get out of here."

"Heh, no shit. Let's just keep walking and hope we find someone else."

"Wait." Sam said.

"Yeah?"

"What if the others are here?" Sam asked.

AJ's eyes went wide. "Well if you and I are here they might be as well! Let's just hope we come across them then."

They started walking and did so for awhile and hopelessly asked each other if they could remember what happened.

They heard rustling and turned around to see a big black bear with a bone mask with red eyes, it also had bone spikes on its body.

"Wait we're on Remnant?..." AJ deadpanned, confused.

"What? Dude shoot that thing?" Sam yelled.

"Shoot it?! With what!?" AJ asked confused.

"That rifle on your back! You didn't know about it?" Sam asked.

"I have a rifle on my back?" AJ asked and reached under his cloak and pulled out an old lever action rifle. It was brown in most parts while the lever, barrel, and the point where shells are ejected are sliver metal. It didn't have any intricate marks on it but he couldn't help but admire the weapon, then remembered he needed to shoot the Grimm in front of him before his fantasy of being on Remnant comes true and _kills him_.

He put the stock to his right shoulder and looked down the iron sights.

"Shoot it already!" Sam yelled, panicking.

"Sam, shut up for a minute!" AJ demanded.

AJ fired the shot excepting recoil for days but found he controlled it very well. He pointed the gun to the side and pulled the lever, the casing came out and flew by his head and he thought it looked like a .50 Cal casing but thought that couldn't be right, there would be more recoil. He pointed the gun back forward and saw the thing had taken the hit with a big hole in its shoulder. The Ursa Grimm roared and charged so AJ fired again, then again, then again, then again. When the thing fell and wasn't moving he fired into it three more times to be sure.

'Damn Major.' AJ thought.

"Dude. That was loud." Sam said but AJ was too lost in his adrenaline to hear him.

"Hey are you ok?" Sam asked and AJ spun around from the contact of Sam's hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, it's ok, you got him." Sam said raising his hands hoping to calm his old "Friend" down.

AJ breathed heavily for a minute longer and finally calmed down.

"I have never had to kill something to protect myself before ok?" AJ said still shaking from adrenaline. "But I think we're gonna have to do it a lot more."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Have you ever watched a show called RWBY?" AJ asked.

"No. What's that have to do with this?" Sam asked.

"Well I think we might be in that show right now." AJ explained.

"We're in a show? Seriously?" Sam asked and when AJ nodded he sighed. "As long as it isn't an anime…"

AJ flinched.

"Well… some would call it that…" AJ said sheepishly.

"Excuse me?" Sam started in a threatening tone hoping AJ is lying.

"Others would call it a cartoon or something… cause it was American made… I really don't know what others call it." AJ said now avoiding eye contact.

"What do _you_ call it then?" Sam asked still threateningly.

"… An anime…"

"Are you serious?" Sam deadpanned.

"Don't get angry at me about it please." AJ pleaded and reached for his gun which was on his back again.

"WHY ME!?" Sam yelled and fell on his knees so AJ walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not that bad. I'll help you out if you want." AJ suggested hopefully.

"No. I just want to get out of this damn world!" Sam wished.

"Why are you so angry about this?" AJ asked as Sam stood up and glared at him.

"I _hate_ anime." He said and started walking.

"I did not know that." AJ said simply and started following him, holding his gun tightly.

* * *

"So those things are called Grimm?" Sam asked.

AJ had been explaining the world while they walked blindly through the forest.

"Yes, they are evil and only attack humans, and they're attracted to negative emotion so if you could just suddenly stop hating anime then we might not get attacked and torn apart." AJ requested and Sam glared at him. " You see, that's not helping."

Sam sighed and kept looking around. "So will any characters from the show fly in and save us?" Sam asked.

"I don't know unfortunately. We might be in the world but not in the canon story for all we know. We might be stuck with each other in this world for all I know, which I'm sure you hate as much as I do, but we're going to have to work together in order to not die." AJ explained.

"We probably don't have Aura, and maybe Isaac and Raymond and Kyle and Casey and Ryan and Vincent and Steven aren't even in this world with us, or maybe they are, but we need to focus on survival now." AJ said.

"And Aura is some sort of personal shield you said?" Sam asked.

"In a way…" AJ answered and glanced back over at Sam for a moment. "If I have a random weapon maybe you have one as well… I'm pretty sure you didn't have two large hatchets before." AJ said pointing at Sam's waist.

"What?" Sam asked looking down and saw two large hatchets that were like small war axes on either side of his waist attached to a belt he didn't have before.

"These aren't mine." Sam pointed out.

"Neither is this rifle, but I think that's how it is now for both of us." AJ guessed.

The axes had a wooden grip painted blue with an iron strip going down the handle. The blades were tinted blue slightly.

"Whoa." AJ said curiously, then backed away. "Careful with those."

Sam began swinging his new toys around and getting a feel for them, hacking at a tree a few times.

There was a button at the bottom of the handle which he pressed and the weapons mecha-shifted into two sawed off shotguns.

"Heh, good luck with recoil." AJ commented.

"Well it looked like yours didn't have much recoil, maybe it will be the same for me?" Sam thought out loud.

"Unless our time here is brief, you are going to need to learn how to use those, and I'm going to need to practice with my rifle." AJ suggested.

"I feel like I know how to use these already, actually." Sam pointed out.

"You know, now that you mention it, I kind of feel like I already know how to use my rifle…" AJ said and realized how odd and ominous that sounded.

They came across a large clearing and as they walked through it a pack of Beowolves came out.

"And those are Grimm?" Sam asked pulling out his axes.

"Yep, Beowolves, not very smart but don't let them hit you. I still think we don't have Aura and they will tear through you if you don't have it." AJ said. 'Seriously, I thought going to Remnant would be fun, instead I'm with someone who annoys me and I haven't seen let alone spoken too in a long time and we might just end up dying gruesome deaths right here.'

AJ started firing his rifle at the group and was taking them out with headshots from his powerful yet almost recoil free lever action rifle.

Sam waited till any of them got close as they had gone over a plan for this already. Stay close to each other.

Admittedly that wasn't much of a plan.

One did manage to get close and AJ jumped back letting Sam take a swing at it. He got it across the chest and quickly chopped its arm off, killing, it oddly enough. It was hard enough for Sam to do this, neither of these 17 year olds had killed anything with a blade but adrenaline carried him forward and the distinct lack of blood made it bearable.

AJ continued to shoot them down before they got in range and he kept waiting for his gun to run out of ammo but as it never happened so he soon forgot about it and was lost in his focused fire. It was like he was in a trance, firing and immediately doing the lever action while keeping the gun perfectly straight and then firing again. He had never used this gun before yet he was taking them down with pretty high accuracy. His dad said he was a good shot but he was pretty sure it wasn't that.

Sam had to kill four more that snuck up on them, he was swinging through muscle memory even though he had barely used these axes before, he saw two coming right for him and he decided to try the shotguns. He liked shotguns, and actually enjoyed firing both shotguns into the black werewolves and having them torn apart by the power behind them. And yet there was so little recoil… He found it strange, but thought little of it as he was also in a trance as he fought.

They had soon taken out the large pack and were trying to calm down after their first full fight.

"That was actually really fucking fun…" AJ said smiling as he looked up from his sitting position at Sam who sat in front of him.

"I noticed." Sam agreed between breaths.

"We shouldn't have to do this… killing things… we are just kids, we weren't raised to do this… although I did imagine coming to this world… I forgot about the fact that something would have to be my first… kill…" He actually didn't like saying that. He didn't like having to kill these things, but it was a lot of fun actually. He kind of fanboyed in his head about this whole scenario.

"At least it was an evil monster and not another person." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah… man it would be much worse if it was someone else… I would definitely do it to protect myself but would definitely hate it. I honestly have fantasies of doing cool shit like this and now that I'm past doing it for the first time where all I cared about was surviving… I might start having a lot of fun with this." AJ said smiling.

"I don't want to do this anymore, I want to go home." Sam said.

"Me too. But that isn't something we have control over right now, let's just keep walking." AJ said as he had calmed down now.

Sam stood up and they started to walk away from the clearing when something purple appeared on the floor at AJ's feet.

"Look up?" AJ read the purple writing etched into the grass and look up to see two people falling from the sky.

He backed up and a purple platform appeared and caught the two figures as it sank to reduce the fall.

The four all stared at each other for a few moments in absolute silence.

"NO FUCKING WAY!" AJ yelled.

"AJ!? SAM!? WHAT ARE WE ALL DOING HERE!?" The shorter of the two new figures asked.

"Isaac?" AJ asked the bulkier figure that stood at his height.

"Is that really you AJ?" Isaac asked.

"Yep. And to answer your question Raymond, I don't know how we got here but I can tell we're on Remnant." AJ said calmly but couldn't help but smile seeing his best friend was there as well.

"NO SHIT! We just fell from a Nevermore! Just like Ruby and Weiss did!" Raymond explained smiling from excitement.

"Yeah and I still don't like the idea even if we did find AJ and Sam." Isaac added in.

Isaac and Raymond both have black hair, combed to the right, but Raymond's curls at the end, both have brown eyes, and are in no way related, oddly enough.

Raymond is a Latino, and stood at 5'11 while Isaac stood at 6'2 like AJ.

Raymond and AJ both know about the show RWBY and had explained anything that came to mind to their partners.

Raymond had a purple trench coat on and purple jeans and no visible weapons. Isaac had a scary looking black trench coat with spikes around the neck and black pants with a black two handed war axe on his back with a black and purple blade that was flat on one end. The whole thing had black spikes on it all above the grip.

"So did you see where we are from up there? Where Beacon is maybe?" AJ asked Raymond hopefully.

"Yep! I can't believe we're actually in Remnant! Mind if I nerd out for a minute?" Raymond asked.

"Been doing that this whole time dude!" AJ exclaimed smiling and they both freaked out and started talking about Remnant and maybe meeting RWBY and Ozpin and JNPR and fighting off Grimm with style and-

"WE GET IT!" Sam yelled.

"We need to get out of here guys, and maybe get home." Isaac requested.

"Raymond, do you want to go back to Earth, or fight Grimm and be a part of RWBY?" AJ asked with a knowing smile.

"Well… I would still like to go back to Earth but… maybe we could stay for a while?" Raymond asked smiling basically agreeing with AJ.

"Well either way we need to find some civilization so TO BEACON WE GO!" AJ said and went to start walking. "Which way is it?" He asked Raymond and Isaac.

"This way." Raymond said. "But first." He pulled out two pistols. "You and Sam take one."

"Aren't these… those guns the two detectives had near the end of Volume 1?" AJ asked Raymond.

"I thought they looked familiar! We found them in the middle of a clearing, no idea, but when we touched them they changed, see?" Raymond asked pointing at the guns.

When AJ touched his it turned brown like his rifle, when he held back his hand, it stayed that way, so he took it finally. When Sam touched his it turned light blue.

"And look at ours." Raymond said and he and Isaac held out their identical pistols except the color part. Raymond's was purple while Isaac's was red and black.

"Weird." AJ said wondering why they reacted to them.

"So what's a Nevermore, Raymond?" Sam asked.

"A bird Grimm, they can get REALLY big. We rode one to get a better view and found you guys." Raymond answered.

Just then a whole pack of large black feathers hit around them and a loud caw alerted them to said Grimm.

"What the hell?!" Sam said.

"Well that did happen in canon so I shouldn't be surprised." AJ said deadpanned.

"You pissed it off didn't you?" Sam asked the two trench coat wearers.

"Well we did cling to it while it was flying." Isaac said.

"Yeah it didn't like that when Ruby and Weiss did it either." AJ pointed out.

"Maybe that hasn't happened yet!?" Raymond wondered.

"Or they might have died from old age in this time! We. Don't. Know. So let's just run, shall we? Not sure if we can kill something like that…" AJ said and they all ran through the forest while random feathers came in and nearly killed them.

They eventually made it to a familiar clearing with a familiar ruin and AJ and Raymond ran over to see it for themselves, forcing their partners to follow. While they were there the Nevermore fired another volley at them and Raymond put his hands out in front of him while they glowed purple, causing a purple wall to appear before them and block the feathers. AJ looked at Raymond who grinned at him.

"So you get fucking magic!?" AJ asked pointing at him with both arms.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's my Semblance." Raymond explained.

"Wait, you unlocked your Aura?!" AJ asked disbelievingly.

Raymond nodded. "Yep, so did Isaac, you guys probably did as well."

"I don't think so… The least my weapon could do is mecha-shift! COME ON!" AJ complained, then sighed. " Whatever, just shoot it! Quickly!" AJ ordered.

Raymond put his hands out in front of him and fired off purple energy blasts, AJ fired with his lever action rifle and Isaac's axe converted into a long barreled modern M14 with suppressor and without a scope and fired it. It fired slowly and sounded like it was firing a very high caliber round despite the suppressor. Sam had shotguns so he could only stand and wait to see if they could hurt it.

One of them hit the Grimm in the eye and it landed, crying out in pain, so Isaac charged it and went to cut its head off. It tried to get up to its feet but Raymond formed something similar to a guillotine and trapped its head for Isaac to act as the falling blade and kill it.

The axe blade wasn't large enough so it cut into its neck but didn't kill it instantly. Raymond couldn't hold it anymore and collapsed onto his knees while the crying Nevermore struggled to eat them or claw them even as it slowly died.

AJ and Sam backed up while firing at its open mouth and scored a few hits, Isaac snuck up from the side and cut at one of the legs with a horizontal swing. It wounded it but it spun around and hit Isaac with one of its wings.

"Isaac!" AJ called out, hoping he was ok.

Isaac stood up and looked up at the Nevermore angrily. His eyes glowed bright blue and his axe's blade was suddenly covered in bright blue flame. He twirled his weapon above his head a few times and used the momentum for a horizontal swing that cut off the leg he cut earlier.

AJ really wished he had something more powerful and as he thought that his weapon mecha-shifted into a brown rocket launcher. He questioned this and then decided to just fire it into the thing's chest knocking it back. Somehow it balanced on one foot, just taunting him.

"Just die already!" AJ yelled and charged. His weapon mecha-shifted again into a brown war hammer and he slammed it into the Grimm, there was an explosion on contact since he had copied the design of Nora's hammer, knocking it down. He jumped on it and his weapon became a long sword which he stabbed into its throat and after a few stabs broke through the tough feathers. It finally stopped moving after that and began disintegrating.

Isaac and Sam sighed in relief, glad they had killed such a large creature while AJ and Raymond were cheering about how they had fought and killed a Nevermore, albeit Raymond was too weak to do much more than fist pump, still breathing heavily.

After some more cheering and self-congratulating they started to walk towards Beacon but were stopped by an airship that landed in front of them, and THE Headmaster Ozpin stepped out.

They were all glad to know civilization was here, but AJ and Raymond were trying to contain their emotion. AJ simply went with other thoughts entirely to hide his true emotion.

"YOU COULD HAVE COME EARLIER!" AJ complained. Yes he hide his feelings very well.

"Sorry about that, I wanted to make sure you weren't any thing dangerous, I'm sure you understand." Ozpin explained. AJ nodded but still looked disappointed with him.

"So… can you help us?" Isaac asked the man.

"With what? Killing Grimm with style or helping you get back to Earth?" Ozpin asked smiling smugly.

Shock was shown on the faces of Raymond, Sam, and Isaac while AJ's eyes simply widened and then he had an impressed and amused smile. He sort of expected this from Ozpin.

"It certainly is interesting to hear that you are part of an internet series in another world." Ozpin said as he approached them with his usual cane and coffee mug.

""So you heard all that huh?"" AJ and Raymond said laughing sheepishly.

"Well I'm sure you must know about the cameras stationed throughout the forest? Or is that not in the show?" Ozpin asked.

"Oh no, they are sir." Raymond answered.

"Odd that two of you know about the show and two of you don't… I wonder why whatever brought you here did that." Ozpin said.

"Well, we don't know sir." Raymond said.

"We just want to get home." Sam said.

"Oh but I don't think _all_ of you want to go home right away." Ozpin said and looked at AJ.

AJ looked away. "Hey, I was thinking about writing fanfiction before this happened ok?" He said defensively yet shyly.

"Well I think you all would have some use what with those weapons of yours. Weapons that you apparently just woke up with. And since you have nowhere else to go, and I can try to figure out a way to get you all back home, why not come to my school? Who knows, maybe you'll meet those 'characters' you were talking about." He said smiling and got back in the ship excepting them to get in with him, which they did.

"He heard what we said, so he heard the names we used, he definitely knows if we are going to see them or not, and judging by that grin, we are." AJ pointed out to them before they got in range of Ozpin's hearing.

"I am so excited!" Raymond said.

"I'm not anymore… I don't want to look stupid in front of them." AJ said.

"That doesn't matter, as long as we can get back to Earth someday." Sam said.

"Yeah yeah, I know." AJ waved him off.

"The less time I have to spend in an anime the better…" Sam grumbled, which made AJ chuckle.

* * *

They landed in front of the school and all four of them stopped to stare in awe at the massive structures of Beacon Academy.

"I believe AJ and Raymond have explained much of this world already to you two in the back, Isaac and Sam." Ozpin said and the two in the back nodded. " They have already told you what we do as Huntsman and Huntresses of Remnant, and what goes on in this school. I feel the only problems you all will have will be understanding the full History of Remnant, and getting around in the maze we call the halls." He said, chuckling.

"But I'm sure you'll be fine, we'll have to give you a tour of the school, and give you your dorm room. As you know, we work with teams of four, I feel that whatever sent you here knew that and now you are here with your weapons and abilities. We have much to show and do, come on." He said and they continued walking to the academy.

They were shown around, given a room, and left to their own devices. Apparently the new school year starts tomorrow, so they would find out soon if they were stuck in Remnant, or stuck in CANON Remnant.

"And now we just wait until Ozpin finds something that can help us get back?" Isaac asked the others as they checked around their dorm and decided on who got which bed.

"Yep." AJ said simply.

Sam sighed. "So even in another world we still have school?" He complained.

"It's our cover, so yeah. We are basically students here now." Raymond said.

"That's gonna be fun, having to sit in a class again. I am homeschooled for a god damn reason!" AJ said as he lied down on the left bed opposite the door, after taking off his cloak and setting his rifle down on the side of the bed.

"How _is_ homeschooling anyway?" Isaac asked as he sat on the left bed closest to the door.

"Well it _was_ fun and easy, as long as you remembered to do your work." AJ said with an annoyed tone, he hated the idea of having normal classes again.

"Oh, actually, Ozpin said we won't have to do homework, just sit through the classes." Sam said as he stood near the right bed next to the door. "Like you said, we aren't students."

"Why didn't I hear this wonderful news!?" AJ asked.

"You were daydreaming along with Raymond, looking at everything." Isaac answered. "The place looks awesome and all, but you guys just weren't focusing."

"Well sorry, my dream just came true is all!" AJ said sitting up and throwing his arms up before falling back down.

"Same." Raymond said sitting on the right bed farthest from the door.

Basically there was a bed at each corner.

They sat there for awhile and talked about different things until AJ interrupted Sam and Raymond as politely as possible.

"Guys, we should go test out our weapons, we passed by a few training rooms earlier in the tour." AJ suggested.

"Sure. I'm up for that." Isaac said.

"Yeah I guess." Said Sam.

"Ozpin said we weren't supposed to fight yet but sure!" Raymond said quickly.

"Why?" AJ asked.

"We were going to see if you and Sam had your Aura unlocked yet tomorrow." Raymond answered.

"Let's find out now." AJ said smiling.

"Do you remember how to get there?" Isaac asked.

"I think I do." Raymond said.

"Same. Hopefully we both can figure it out." AJ said.

It took them half an hour to find it in the massive academy.

""Finally!"" AJ said excitedly and Sam said annoyed.

"So again, what do we got?" Raymond asked excitedly.

"I got a rifle, usually it's this lever action rifle but apparently" AJ said and the rifle turned into a one handed sword with no guard, the handle was silver metal and the blade was dark brown. "It can mecha-shift… a lot! I turned it into a war hammer, a rocket launcher, this sword, long sword, the lever action rifle of course, I have no idea why I got this ridiculous weapon or where the ammo is coming from but _I love it!_ " AJ exclaimed. "Not sure what to call it yet…"

"I have this war axe, it transforms into a modern M14 with a suppressor for some reason. I don't think it fires as fast as it should though. Whatever it fires is about as powerful as AJ's lever action but you know, lever action kinda looks cooler." Isaac said and AJ smirked. "I'm gonna call mine 'Silent Antagonist'."

"I have these two axes that turn into sawed off shotguns. Not much else to say really. Though I will admit if there is one cool thing this anime has, it's mecha-shifting, that's pretty cool." Sam said. "I'll call mine the 'Blue Devils', don't ask where the name came from I have no idea."

"I know right!? Mecha-shifting is awesome! I don't really have a weapon though, I have this magic that I'm pretty sure is my Semblance but it doesn't use up my Aura so I'm not sure. At least it's purple." Raymond finished smiling and AJ rolled his eyes smiling at the inside joke.

"So, let's try this stuff out in this safer environment shall we? I'll go first if you don't mind." AJ said and they all shook their heads, saying they don't mind.

First there was a shooting range where he fired off a few rounds at the targets. Once satisfied he went into the arena to hit real targets, the training bots.

"You got this AJ!" Raymond yelled.

AJ stood with his weapon in one handed sword mode and went for the first bot, they clashed blades. AJ kicked the bot back and sliced at its arm, it blocked and attempted to return the favor, he parried the hit leaving an opening to cut the bot in half, he failed and was hit before he could block. He panicked and looked down, he saw no mark but saw a yellow glow for a moment and realized his Aura HAD been unlocked.

He got up charged again, this time when he parried he was able to cut it diagonally in half.

"Well the lack of a guard is annoying." He said to himself looking over his sword.

Another bot charged him and he got an idea. He pulled out the pistol Raymond had given him and it mecha-shifted into a shield, his main weapon mecha-shifting into a spear. 'So that's what the pistol does now, I guess we effect the pistols in some way… but why?' Raymond quickly recognized AJ was being a copycat.

He blocked the bot with his spear and the spear became the rifle as he fired point blank, the bot took the hit and still kept going, trying for a vertical slash. AJ blocked with his shield and spun swapping to a sword, by pulling the lever down since he fired but so far down that it went over the barrel side of the gun and the rest of the weapon shifted into the blade, and slashing. The bot blocked it and he stopped his spin to bring his weapon back in gun mode swing it like it was still a sword but fire again, right through the chest. The bot stopped moving then and collapsed.

He looked over his shoulder at his friends. "So I realized if my weapon could mecha-shift into a bunch of different things I could fight like Pyrrha does!"

"Yeah I noticed!" Raymond said.

One more bot came at him and he simply turned his weapon into a war hammer and hit it like he was playing golf.

"K. I think we don't have much time till dark so I won't waste anymore of your guys' time." AJ said smiling and walked out of the arena portion of the room.

"Well I'll go next then." Sam said and walked up.

He took out his axes and stood ready for his first opponent.

Sword clashed with axe but Sam has two so he swung out where the bot left itself open but it jumped back.

Sam clashed again with the bot and swapped his right axe to shotgun mode and fired point blank destroying it. A few more charged at him and he took them out with his dual shotguns. One snuck up behind him and he spun around as his weapons mecha-shifted back to axes to block the vertical strike downward, leaving the bot open for a slash that took its head off.

Sam looked up at his friends who were clapping.

"Really not much to it." Sam said with a cocky tone. "Not like AJ who has a ton of different weapons, I think I'll try them out more tomorrow." He said as he walked back to them.

""I'll go next."" Raymond and Isaac said, looked at each other, then simultaneously went and did rock-paper-scissors.

"Yes!" Isaac fist pumped and walked out.

"Paper shouldn't beat rock, it's so stupid." Raymond mumbled to himself, AJ heard this and chuckled.

Isaac took out his menacing spiked axe and held it tight.

He swung the massive weapon with ease and kept the bots from even getting near him. He could swing with perfect timing and precision to knock their weapons out of their hands and then the next swing would cut them in half.

A bot came straight at him and he simply twirled the weapon above his head, taking out a bot behind him that had jumped him, and finished the twirl by bringing it down diagonally and cutting the bot in half.

He swapped his weapon to gun mode and fired into the next few bots, taking them out with one or two shots to the chest, and sometimes going for a headshot.

After a few easy kills he switched back to axe mode and used his Semblance. His eyes glowed blue and blue flame covered his weapon, when he was attacked from all sides he simply spun dragging his weapon along the ground and tripping all the bots, while they were still suspended in the air, he finished the spin by slamming his blade on the ground like it was a hammer, causing blue flame to shoot out along the ground in all directions and taking out the bots.

He stood up and grinned at his friends.

"Hell yeah! That is an epic Semblance!" AJ shouted.

"Meh, its ok." Sam said.

"You're just jealous you don't know what yours is yet." Raymond said grinning.

"I don't know what mine is yet either. Anyway, your turn Raymond." AJ said as Isaac came back.

Raymond and AJ were just really damn excited now, they got to be in Remnant, they were still alive, and they awesome weapons and the ones that have Semblances are pretty awesome. They didn't get to show off like this back on Earth.

Raymond made a long sword out of purple energy and had a good old fashioned sword fight with the first bot. When he cut it down he went to two single handed swords and fought against two bots easily. When three came at him he waved his hands and a volley of purple sickle blades flew out and cut the three into little pieces.

For the next bots he went with one sword in his right hand.

He parried an attack from his right and blasted it with purple energy with his left hand, two came after and he put a wall in front of the left one while he blocked the right one with his sword, he pushed the wall he had made at the left bot and crushed it against the wall, then turned back to the one he fought and knocked its sword out of the way and stabbed in it the chest.

One snuck up behind him and he made a shield in his left hand to block the blow, the bot was pushing hard and he removed the blade in his right hand to fire a blast of energy into it destroying it.

Three bots jumped him from behind, front left, and front right. He raised both hands to create a scythe like Ruby has with his purple energy Semblance, then spun around rapidly while swinging the blade around them and when he stopped spinning the bots were still in the air then fell to pieces and he turned around to pose like Ruby does with his scythe over his shoulder, then his excitement went away and exhaustion caught up with him. His weapon disappeared and he fell panting.

The others came out to check on him.

"Bad. Ass!" AJ said.

"That was awesome Raymond!" Isaac commented.

"Yeah I'll admit that was kind of cool." Sam said.

"I bet my weapon could probably become a scythe as well." AJ said to himself, before testing it out and next thing they knew he was holding a light and dark brown version of Ruby's scythe. "HELL YES!"

"Alright, I'm tired, can I go to bed now?" Raymond asked.

"Heh, sure." AJ said and Isaac helped Raymond walk back to their dorm.

They were stopped by Ozpin just before they walked in.

"Well, you four had fun." Ozpin said.

They all turned around to see him.

"Oh, hello Professor." Sam said sheepishly.

"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble, you may not know it, but you all have your Aura's unlocked, otherwise the arena wouldn't have started for you. So that's one less thing to worry about." Ozpin explained. "I just wanted to make sure you all knew that."

"Oh, thank you then." AJ said before they all went in their dorm after saying goodnight.

"I can't wait to see if we are in canon RWBY or not!" Raymond said as he lied down in his bed.

"Me neither." AJ said lying down in his own bed.

AJ was able to truly confirm on that night that Raymond does in fact fall asleep to dubstep.

They all settled in and about an hour later AJ realized he was the only one still awake. He sighed and closed his eyes, the sound of the heavy wind outside was bothering him and he couldn't sleep, so he got up and paced around in the room. It wasn't helping his mind relax and he thought he might wake up his friends and they would probably ask what's wrong so he left the dorm. He walked the halls for a bit before finding the door leading to the roof above their dorm.

He stood out on the roof, the winds blowing his hair around, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the cold winds. He felt relaxed as he stood there and felt the wind in his hair and on his face. Eventually he went back inside and the cold feeling on his skin felt oddly relaxing to him. Before he knew it he was back in their dorm and he finally fell asleep.

There was a voice in his dream that said "Sorry about this, this was supposed to have happened earlier."

Meanwhile in the conscious world AJ was writhing in pain but stayed asleep despite that.

* * *

"Hey, AJ. Wake up." Raymond said quietly and tapped AJ's arm. AJ grumbled and turned away from him.

"Hey. I thought you and Raymond wanted to see if the canon characters are here or not?" Isaac asked. This got AJ to move but he was hardly awake.

"Is it after noon?" AJ asked quietly rubbing his eyes.

"No. Why?" Sam asked.

"Fuck you." Was all AJ said before he stood up and went to the restroom.

"He normally doesn't wake up till after noon and doesn't get moving till 1 or 2. So this is probably really tiring for him." Raymond explained. They got ready and AJ finally stepped out of the restroom more alert and ready to go, he had already showered last night so he didn't take long.

"Hey AJ?" Isaac started and AJ nodded saying he was listening. "There is something we kind of need to explain to you, brace yourself ok? Try not to freak out." AJ was now dreading whatever they were about to say.

"You seem to have… changed overnight." Sam said. AJ simply looked at them confused.

"You're whole 'part cat' joke isn't really a… joke anymore…" Raymond said and AJ looked confused for a second longer before he froze and his eyes sparkled with joy.

"Are you saying I'm a Faunus?" AJ asked, grinning ear to ear.

"Um… well… yeah." Isaac explained.

AJ felt his head and found his two cat ears on his head, he also felt something against his leg and saw he had a tail the same color as his hair. He rushed back into the restroom and looked in the mirror (which he had somehow overlooked) to check the ears and saw they blended with his hair as they were also light brown. He also noticed his eyes had changed. He hadn't seen his eyes look this way in years, they were a very vibrant green now and they had flecks of gold in them. He remembered his eyes looking like this for about a week and thought they would never look this way again, but clearly they are.

Sam and the others still weren't sure if he would take this well and the sudden shouts of joy from the restroom let them sigh in relief.

"BEST DAY EVER!" AJ shouted before running out. "Come on! Let's go meet the future first years!" He said confidently and ran out without them.

"The day just started though…" Sam said and they all sighed before running to keep up with him, they noticed he was moving faster than normal and was able to dash through the crowds even better than he normally could, now he actually never hit anyone.

They eventually made it out to the landing area for the ships and just in time to see the explosion the Ruby and Weiss cause.

"You complete dolt! This is exactly what I was talking about!" Weiss yelled. AJ took a moment to think of how to approach this while Raymond caught up.

"You know, I think we shouldn't mess with canon." Raymond pointed out breathing heavily.

"Inevitably we will, might as well do our best to make it better!" AJ said before walking up to the two girls.

"Hey! Ice Queen!" AJ called out in a friendly tone.

"Excuse me!?" Weiss shouted and looked at the boy, then looked at him in disgust.

"Could you leave the poor girl alone?" AJ pleaded still smiling.

"Why should I? You saw what happened, didn't you!?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, you started shaking Dust around and she sneezed because of it. Basically it's your fault." AJ explained and Ruby giggled slightly.

Weiss glared at him, then noticed the three boys approaching from behind the rude cloaked boy.

"Is this your friend?" Weiss asked the boys. They nodded. "Then keep him on a shorter leash! Maybe teach him some manners!" Raymond glared at her.

"Oh! Ow! It hurts!" AJ shouted clutching his chest overdramatically. "Racist animal remarks are kind of childish don't you think Princess?" AJ asked smiling again and getting in her face.

"It's heiress actually." A girl answered and AJ simply smiled more realizing he was still following canon, and probably not helping Weiss's opinion of Faunus but he would worry about that later. He looked at Blake and saw she was already glaring at Weiss.

'No doubt angry about the leash comment.'

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world, also infamous for their controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Blake explained and Weiss returned the girl's glare before taking back her Dust jar and stomping off.

Blake pulled AJ to the side. "You ok?"

"Yeah, of course." AJ said surprised to see Blake being so friendly already.

"It's just that I've never seen someone take a racist remark like that so well." Blake explained still looking angry about the comment.

AJ looked back at his friends. "Well I have had to deal with a lot of random hate so I kind of just don't care anymore. That stuff doesn't usually get to me."

Blake hmm'd in thought before turning and leaving, so AJ walked back to his friends.

"So, I'm Raymond!" Raymond said to Ruby.

"I'm Isaac."

"Sam."

"I go by AJ." He said as he walked up to them.

"Well I'm Ruby! Thanks for helping me by the way." Ruby said.

"No problem." AJ said before remembering something. "Oh! I just remembered we have to do something! Bye! Come on Raymond." He said as he dragged Isaac and Sam away despite Isaac's complaints and Sam's struggling.

"Hey, wait! I wanna see what weapons you have!..." Ruby called out before sinking down in depression.

'Perfect.'

"What was that for!? I was finally gonna talk to Ruby!" Raymond complained.

"Well I needed her to sink like that so Jaune could come over." AJ explained.

"Who the hell is Jaune!?" Sam complained as AJ finally released them.

"Well I guess that makes sense then…" Raymond said still not liking being taken from a conversation with Ruby.

"I'll explain later, right now we have to go to the amphitheater." AJ said and started walking to where all the other students were headed.

They stayed in their group while moving through the crowd and waited for the speech that Ozpin will give. They stayed out of the issue with Weiss and Ruby and Yang, and everything went by smoothly.

Once Weiss left Ruby noticed the guys and they introduced themselves to Yang, Yang thanked AJ for helping his sister and AJ humbly said it was nothing.

That night they went to the ballroom and slept there only because Ozpin suggested it and Glynda demanded it. AJ and Raymond insisted they stay out of the way for now, as long as the teams stay the same, nothing really bad will happen. Then they can really join in if they want, but it's just too dangerous right now.

AJ did look around and when he saw Blake looking in his direction he looked away quickly, not seeing Blake do the same thing.

* * *

The next day they grabbed their gear and left before Ruby could freak out over their weapons. They stood at the lunch pads, AJ and Raymond decided not to mention to Isaac and Sam that they were about to be sent flying and got a kick out of their reactions when they were launched.

AJ didn't see how the others landed because he had his own problems… he didn't know how to land. He quickly thought of how Ruby landed and used his weapon to do the same thing. Once safely on the ground he started walking and hoped to god that they wouldn't screw anything up in canon.

Rustling in the bushes made him look down. "Who is it?" He called out.

"It's Isaac."

"Really!? YES! Hopefully Sam and Raymond find each other!" AJ said happily and made eye contact with Isaac so they could move on as partners.

They went through the forest unnoticed for awhile and came across one lone Beowolf on the way but they took care of it and soon found themselves in the clearing along with future team RWBY and future team JNPR.

"Ok, so we haven't messed anything up." AJ said to Isaac. "But where are Raymond and Sam then?"

They looked around while Ruby charged the Deathstalker that had chased Pyrrha there when a wave of water came out from the forest carrying Sam while Raymond had made a surf board out of his purple energy, they both looked like they were running from something. Oh, did I mention the water is red? No? Well it is. The same red as Ruby's cloak.

"What did you do this time Raymond?" AJ deadpanned, grinning.

"Huh? Oh nothing much just PISSED OFF A DEATHSTALKER! You know, those things are much scarier in person!" Raymond yelled.

"Alright and where did the water come from?" Isaac asked them.

"Oh, Sam discovered his Semblance!" Raymond said excitedly.

"Cool! So, a blue theme with your clothes and now a water Semblance?" AJ asked Sam. 'Even though the water is red it still is water and water is usually blue… so there is still a theme here as far as I'm concerned.'

"It's not like I asked for this or anything." Sam pointed out.

"So where is it then?" AJ asked.

"Should be here right about…" Raymond paused and another Deathstalker came crashing out. "Now…"

AJ looked back for a moment and noticed the Deathstalker from canon had already been frozen… and was already gone… 'How long have we been standing here and why didn't it attack us?'

"Ok. Let's make it simple and just do what JNPR did." AJ suggested.

"We don't have a cliff, first of all, and second of all we should be creative and not just copy them." Raymond said.

"OUR LIVES ARE ON THE LINE! This is not the time for creativity!" AJ yelled.

"Too bad." Raymond said simply and threw out a few energy sickles with a wave of his hand. All the sickles bounced off leaving scratches on the armor. "K, that won't work."

"I mean come on! Their stinger is pretty much the only thing that can get through the armor, so it's not like we have a choice!" AJ complained while Sam charged it and was knocked down.

"You say you're so smart! Think of something else!" Raymond demanded. AJ grumbled and tried to think outside the box.

Sam and Isaac charged it, both firing at its eyes hoping to damage them. Their shots all bounced off so Isaac tried using his Semblance to power his weapon, Sam used his water Semblance to get Isaac above the Grimm and try to smash it with his blue fire covered axe. It cracked the armor but did little more. He barely dodged the stinger and jumped back next to Sam. They both pulled out their pistols and went to fire at the eyes again but noticed their weapons were pulling towards each other and they pulled away from the strange magnetism.

"What was that?" Sam asked Isaac.

"No idea."

"What if all the pistols can do that?" Raymond asked, they both suddenly smiled.

"Do you get the feeling it makes some ultimate weapon?" AJ asked Raymond.

"Yep." Raymond said nodding. "Come over here guys! Quick!" The others ran over and they put their different colored pistols together and observed as it mech-shifted into a ridiculously large over the shoulder launcher that looked like it fired a sound wave.

" _Bass Cannon Ready For Firing."_ A deep robotic voice said from the gun that had a barrel 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide with the gun being 15 feet long.

"Ohmygodyes!" Raymond said excitedly and grabbed the front grip of the gun. AJ grabbed the front grip on the right while Isaac and Sam grabbed the two back grips and they all got down on one knee to hold the ridiculous weapon.

They all started glowing, AJ glowing yellow, Raymond glowing purple, Sam glowing red, and Isaac glowing blue, as their Aura was channeled into the weapon.

" _Loading Bass Cannon."_

The Deathstalker got tired of waiting and slowly began to build up speed as it charged.

The trigger on Raymond's grip flashed, saying it was ready to fire, and he pressed the trigger. Their Aura's all started to build up inside the barrel, just before it fired they were all compelled to say:

"D-D-D-D-D-D-DROP THE BASS!" Along with the robotic voice and immediately after saying that the cannon fired making the sound of the most epic bass drop ever and the sound wave tore apart the Grimm before sending the pieces flying away. It also tore apart the ground and the trees that were in the path of the shot.

The weapon turned back into the four little pistols and they all collapsed breathing heavily from using so much Aura, they were all laughing though of course.

AJ was on floor laughing from how stupid and funny that gun was.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? HAHA!"

Raymond likes dubstep so:

"THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVEEEERRR! HAHAHA!"

Isaac and Sam were just laughing from relief and excitement.

They all stood up and looked at each other and realized they actually were about to collapse, so their last conscious decision was to yell.

"""" **S.P.W.M!""""** They all shouted before collapsing.

* * *

They all woke up one by one in the infirmary.

"So did we pass?" They asked Ozpin when he walked in.

"Yes, you all passed. I couldn't bring myself to pick your team name for you when you all shouted four letters before passing out, so that will have to be your team name. But… what does it mean, if I may ask?" Ozpin asked.

They all pointed to themselves as they said:

"Super." Sam said.

"Pro." AJ said proudly.

"Waffle." Raymond said with a stupid grin.

"Menace." Isaac said with an evil tone.

"It's a team name we made up when playing video games a long time ago." AJ explained.

They had to give Ozpin credit, he only laughed a little.

"We'll just go by S.P.W.M. if you don't mind. And not with stupidly long pauses between each letter, just say each letter without pause." AJ requested.

"Alright then." Ozpin said, still chuckling a little. "Well your first 'class' starts tomorrow, be safe." He said before leaving.

"Can we all just agree that that was fucking awesome?" AJ asked smiling.

* * *

 **Don't worry, the quality improves after this chapter… I think. It improves soon I promise.**

 **So yeah, an unknown number of versions of every different world and universe. More than one version of the people of RWBY, and this boy from Earth! I'm not just having this boy be the main character twice for the lols, there are reasons for it, I promise you.**

 **Anyway, if you are enjoying this and you haven't followed yet, there's no reason not to. Unless you're a guest, obviously.**

 **Well, rather you're enjoying this or not, have a great day!**

 **P.S. the opening for volume 3 was just posted and in my opinion it is badass!**


	9. The Plus One of RWBY Ch8

" **Hey! ProAJ13! You cut us off right before the volume 1 end of TPOR with that other fic's first chapter! Why didn't you just do this chapter first then that chapter!?"**

 **Because I decided I felt like screwing with you all. It's not like it's the end of the world.**

 **I'm thinking I might go back and give each chapter an actual name. Idk… maybe I will, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just give names to chapters that I can actually think of a name for.**

 **Also, I'm posting three chapters today. Just a heads up… and don't get your hopes up! It's not three big chapters!**

 **Anyway, on with the story! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY Ch.8: Black, White, and Red.

* * *

"So, I assume you want to know more about me as well?" Blake asked. She sat at one of the tables outside a shop, drinking tea that the waiter had given them. AJ sat next to her and the blond monkey Faunus, whose name is Sun, sat across from them.

"Yes, I would, it's been nearly two days and AJ has been much more willing to speak but if you spoke it was usually to your boyfriend." Sun said.

Both feline Faunus blushed. "He's/She's not my-" They both said and both just gave up and sighed.

"Wait, your _both_ in denial? I've seen the way you act around each other. Whatever. Anyway, yes, tell me about yourself since you are the only one of us that hasn't." Sun requested.

"Do you know about the White Fang?" Blake asked.

"Of course! I don't think there is a Faunus on the planet who doesn't know about them, bunch of creeps who use force to get whatever they want." Sun said.

"I was once a member actually." Blake said calmly.

Sun spit out his drink. "Wait, _you_ were once a member of the White Fang?"

"Yes, most of my life actually, you could almost say I was born into it. Back then things were different, in the ashes of war the White Fang was a symbol of peace and unity between humans and Faunus. But despite being promised equality we were still treated as lesser beings. So the White Fang rose up as a voice for our people. And I was there at the front of every rally and boycott. I actually thought I was making a difference, but was likely just a youthful optimist. Then five years ago our leader stepped down and was replaced by a more… radical one. Our peaceful protests became organized attacks, we set fire to shops that wouldn't serve us, stole cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. The worst part of it all was that it worked, we were treated like equals, but not out of respect,"

"But out of fear." AJ finished, knowing that was where the story was going. "What an idiot! Respect through fear is no respect at all!"

"That's why I left. I wasn't about to continue using my skills to aid in their violence, instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So here I am, a criminal in plain sight, all with the help of a little, black, bow." Blake said and her bow moved.

"So did you ever tell your friends any of this?" Sun asked and Blake looked down.

"That's kind of how we got here." AJ said for her.

* * *

Team RWBY was tired of waiting for Blake and AJ to come back and went out to search for them. They were currently walking through the streets of Vale.

"BLAAAAKE! AJ!" Yang yelled.

"BLAAAAAAAAKE! AJ! WHERE ARE YOU!" Ruby yelled. "Weiss! You aren't helping!"

"Oh, you know who might be able to help? The police!" Ice Queen said.

"Weiss." Ruby growled.

"It was just an idea!"

"Yeah, a bad one." Ruby said as she started to walk forwards again.

"Weiss, I think we should hear Blake's side of the story first." Yang suggested.

"I think when we hear it you'll realize I was right." Weiss said.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" Everyone turned around at the new voice behind them.

"AH! Penny where did you come from!?" Ruby demanded.

"Hey guys! What are you up too?" Penny asked ignoring the question.

"We're looking for our friends, Blake and AJ." Yang answered.

"Oh! You mean the two Faunus!" Penny said.

"How did you know Blake was a Faunus?" Ruby asked.

"The cat ears." Penny said pointing at the top of her head.

"But she has a bow, you can't tell she has cat ears." Yang pointed out.

"So where are they?" Penny asked.

"We don't know. They've been missing since Friday." Ruby said.

"That's terrible!" Penny said with enthusiasm and grabbed Ruby by the shoulders.  
"Well don't you worry Ruby my friend. I won't rest until we find your teammates!"

"Well that's really nice of you Penny," Ruby said awkwardly to the strange girl. "But we've got this handled, right guys?" She looked at where Yang and Weiss were and found no trace of them.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Sun asked as they walked down the sidewalk of a street in Vale.

"I still don't think the White Fang are behind the robberies." AJ said. "They could be, but I really think it's Torchwich.

"Yeah, they've never needed that much Dust before." Blake reasoned.

"What if they did?" Sun questioned and stepped in front of them. "The only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the mostly likely place they would be if they were to do it and not find them there, right?"

"You would have lost anyone else with that." AJ deadpanned. "But lucky for you I got that, and you're right." He said and was no longer deadpanning.

"Fine, but where would that be?" Blake asked.

"While I was on the ship I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge Dust crate coming in from… Atlas I believe." Sun said.

"How huge?" Blake asked.

"Huge!" Sun threw his arms out wide for emphasis. "Big Schnee Company freighter."

"Sounds like our 'most likely place'." AJ said with a smile. They started walking towards their destination.

"So what did you guys name your weapons?" Sun asked to break the silence while they walked.

"Gambol Shroud." Blake said.

"I… don't really have a name for my sword." AJ said sheepishly.

"You should have one!" Sun said excitedly.

"Ok, I'll try to think of something then." AJ said hesitantly.

"You better!" Sun said before turning around and continuing walking.

Blake and AJ looked at each other and Blake just shrugged, not really getting the enthusiasm either, and they started walking again.

* * *

Weiss and Yang walked out of another shop. "Thanks anyways!" Yang called out as they left. "This is hopeless!" She said depressingly. "You really don't care if we find them, do you?" She asked Weiss.

"Of course I do! I'm just worried what Blake and AJ will say when they get back. He probably knew about this the whole time. The innocent never run Yang." She finished and began walking to the next shop.

"I feel like AJ would have a response to that, but I'm not him, so I don't know." Yang said to herself before following Weiss.

* * *

It was night now and Blake was lying on her stomach on the roof of a hanger near the port. She starred down at the Schnee crates below. AJ jumped onto the roof and crouched next to her.

"I didn't see anything on the other side. Anything here?" AJ asked as Sun came up to them with a small container of apples.

"Not really. They delivered all the crates from the boat and now they're just sitting there." Blake said.

"Well good news, I got you guys some food." Sun said as he handed an apple to Blake. Well, tried to, she just looked at him.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun asked and Blake glared at him while AJ laughed/gasped a little.

"Ok, too soon." Sun said but AJ took the apple.

"Thank you, Sun." He said with a smile from laughing.

"See! Someone who appreciates my effort!" Sun said to Blake while pointing with both hands to AJ. Blake rolled her eyes.

Strong wind hit the three as an airship flew over them and once its search lights found the containers it landed.

"The hell?" AJ asked.

"Is that them?" Sun asked Blake as soldiers stepped out.

She saw the mark on their backs. "Yes, it's them." Blake said depressingly.

"Crap, so much for Torchwich." AJ realized.

"You guys really didn't think it was them did you?" Sun asked.

"No. I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to be right." Blake said.

"Hey! What's the hold-up!?" Someone yelled, drawing everyone's attention.

A man with orange hair, a cane, a white suit, and a bowler hat stepped out.

"We aren't exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of criminals at the moment, so, why don't you animals try to pick up the pace!?" He yelled.

"Torchwich!?" AJ whispered in disbelief.

"This isn't right, the White Fang would never work for or with a human… Especially one like him." Blake said before pulling out her katana from her sheathe and jumping down from the building.

"Hey wait!" Sun yelled, he looked to AJ.

"Guess I wasn't entirely wrong." AJ said with a sigh before jumping down as well.

Torchwich was yelling at one of the soldiers who was holding large cables.

"No you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Blake put her sword to his throat. "What the? Oh for f-"

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered.

"Whoa! Take it easy there little lady!" Torchwick said.

"Quiet you!" Blake ordered. The soldiers surrounded her with guns and she took off her bow. "Brothers of the white Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?!" Blake asked and most of the soldiers lowered their guns. The one that didn't, which was behind her, was stabbed by claws and pulled away from the group with his screams muffled.

"Oh kid. Didn't ya get the memo?" Torchwich asked.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

Blake put her katana closer to his throat. "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

Three more small airships flew over their heads.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Torchwich said. While Blake was distracted looking up at the ships, he fired his cane at their feet. Somehow it didn't even faze him but sent Blake flying.

Blake tried to stand up and looked just in time to see Torchwich fire a shot at her and AJ came out of nowhere and picked her up and moved her just out of the way. Torchwich fired more shots at the two and AJ responded with Energy blasts that took out each shot before it hit them. They both stopped firing to let the smoke clear and Blake took this chance to hide.

"Aww, two little kitties! I'm gonna have some fun tonight!" Torchwich said smugly before he lost his smile and started walking towards AJ. "Wait I remember you." He said with a hint of anger. A banana peel landed on his hat and he got it off him and looked up just to see two feet planted in his face and Sun rolled off of him.

"Leave them alone." Sun warned. Torchwich stood up and multiple White Fang soldiers joined him and surrounded Sun with blades.

"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya kid?" Torchwich said and AJ face palmed in the background. Sun easily punched and kicked through the group but eventually pulled out a staff and was taking everyone out with that.

AJ was distracted by three soldiers landing near him holding daggers. Their frames were lithe and the seemed like elite soldiers built for speed and agility. 'Let's find out.' he thought and he charged them. The middle one struck out at him once and AJ leaned past the strike but was kicked by the other two at the same time. 'Oh, they're a coordinated team huh?' He went to attack but found the middle one attacking him first and he had to keep up with his guards to block the daggers as the soldier swung with lightning fast speed and was even flipping the blades between strikes. 'Show off.' Then the left one joined in and they danced around each other with clearly practiced coordination and only when AJ got fed up with dodging and struck out at them did they finally back off. He also just now realized they had hit him multiple times and they had yet to be hurt.

AJ let his Aura out and the soldiers took a step back before attacking all at once, even going so far as to throw their daggers at him, he leaned away from the dagger, and one on the other side caught it and threw it back. AJ jumped and spun to avoid the dagger and the strike from the third soldier that followed. It was no wonder they managed to keep landing small hits as they were very skilled and he was fighting three guys at once and they kept moving around him. 'I need to change this up a bit.' He lashed out and fired in all directions at them and they easily dodged. In the cover of the debris one of them jumped up and went to hit AJ with both blades in a downward strike. AJ grabbed him by the arms and flung him into a nearby crate as hard as he could. Dust crystals burst out and the soldier never got up. 'Their strategy is to never get hit since they clearly can't take a hit, but they can still take hits better than the grunts I suppose.'

Two left. They threw spare daggers at him which he blocked with a quick unsheathing of his sword. Now AJ focused his flowing Aura into focus and agility and started dashing around faster than the elites were capable of and struck them each a few times. The left one jumped at him and slashed at his face and AJ ducked from it but as he stood up the second one jumped over the first and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back. The first one jumped over his partner and slashed at him which missed, or it seemed, it was actually meant to knock his sword out of his hands which they succeeded in, then he landed and his partner jumped over him again and he slashed and they repeated this a few times until AJ backed into the crate he had thrown the first soldier into. He saw a dagger coming for his face and he leaned out of the way as the dagger stuck into the crate. The soldier was smarter than to try to pull it out and instead slashed with his left dagger and AJ grabbed his wrist and snapped it. The soldier backed up and held his hand in pain and AJ turned to the other one.

This one took the dagger in the crate and attacked again. AJ dodged as the soldier kept switching between three daggers, one of the daggers was always in the air as he slashed and stabbed. 'Now this guy is good.' "I say, you sir, deserve a medal!" He took the dagger in the air as he dodged a stab at his side and stabbed the elite's left hand and he dropped the dagger it held. He looked up at AJ in anger and recklessly struck out with his right and AJ ducked under it and knocked the guy in the side of the head and he landed next to his friend who was still holding his hand in pain. AJ and said soldier both looked down and saw an ice Dust crystal at their feet.

"No. Wait!" The soldier shouted as AJ used an Energy blast to detonate the crystal, sealing them in ice.

"Oh, chill out! You're fine!" AJ said with a smile as the turned back to the fight.

Meanwhile Yang suddenly felt very proud of AJ for some reason she just couldn't pin down.

Sun and Blake were jumping out of the way of a crate that had fallen on them and Blake landed safely but Sun landed next to Torchwich who aimed his cane at him. "Hey!" A voice called out and the fighting stopped with every one looking at a hanger and saw Ruby standing on top with her weapon out in scythe mode.

"Oh, hey there Red! Isn't it past your bed time?" Torchwich asked and Ruby looked back at whoever was with her on the hanger and he saw his opportunity pointing his cane at her. "Die Red!" He yelled as he fired the shot that hit Ruby directly.

"NO!" AJ yelled as he jumped up there to see if she was ok. Penny was there as well. Ruby was out but she was alive. 'He could have killed her and he wouldn't have cared… Cause he's a criminal…' He imagined Ruby and all of his other friends dead and he couldn't stand the thought of losing them. He turned towards Torchwich and jumped down to him, landing near the Dust crystals he had let out earlier.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!" He yelled, Aura already flowing out in its usual white mist.

"Well duh! That was the idea, kid!" Torchwich said.

AJ heard this and realized the images of his friends dying could become real because of this… criminal…

Now imagine deep inside AJ's mind there was a dark area, infinite darkness, and in that darkness was a figure, you couldn't really tell who it was because there was no light. But then a light appeared. The figure was facing the viewer, his left hand out in front of him. He wasn't far away, his shoulders almost reach the edge of the screen. The light is coming from his left hand and it is a white mist giving off just enough light to see its AJ, but his hood is not only down, it just isn't there, the cloak isn't there at all. Only the left side of his face gets any light but you can see the faint white glow of his right iris, everything around him is dark and he stares at the viewer with a blank expression.

Then you hear the chains shaking again, but then you hear a different sound, you hear them snap. And the white mist instantly turns red, red like Ruby's cloak. Now the side of his face was red from the light instead of white, and the glow of his right eye was the same shade of red, but his left eye, the one you could see, you could see the real color of the iris was blood red, dark red, and his expression was one of a terrifying and evil smile showing all his very sharp teeth, specifically his fangs. Camera starts flying backwards out of his mind as the figure spoke with a demonic voice.

' _ **He would just kill your friends without a second thought! He's a monster. KILL HIM**_ **!'**

" **DIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"** Red Aura exploded out of him, his ears and tail turned one shade of red darker than Ruby's cloak, his irises were blood red and a lighter red glow came out of them, fangs and sharp teeth suddenly were present.

Torchwich realized he made a mistake when he was sent flying to the other side of the area. He got up just to be hit in the face and sent flying away again. Every White Fang soldier left got between him and the red menace before him. A red blur went through the group, leaving black feathers in its wake, and every one of his men were down in an instant. Torchwich fired a shot at the mist and knocked AJ down, but he was up again in an instant and charged.

Torchwich used his cane to block a strike and his arm went numb from the strength behind it and his cane cracked. He realized if he wanted to not be brutally murdered he would need to redirect the hits instead. He was somehow able to do that despite the utter speed and strength that was coming at him, he figured it was some sort of instinct to live that pushed him to his limit. He was still hit hard at one point and sent into a crate. Everything was a blur and he barely maintained his conscience, that was when he saw some lightning Dust and threw it at the boy covered in red mist. He detonated it with a shot from his cane and it tazed the boy till he passed out, even thought that much electricity should have killed him.

Torchwich ran for dear life hoping the terrifying boy wouldn't wake up but he saw his ears and tail become brown again and he lost the red mist that was everywhere around him so he made it to his ship with a little bit of his dignity left.

"These kids are freaking crazy." Torchwich said as his ship got away.

The figure in his mind changed, the light mist was white again and in the light that shined on the left side of his face you could see his normal eyes again, but in the shadow of the right side (his right) you could see the eye was still glowing red.

* * *

AJ eventually woke up and saw Blake, Sun, Ruby, and Penny all looking at him with concern, until he looked at them and then they all let out the breath they had held in. AJ stood up and looked at them all.

"Ruby! Are you ok?" AJ asked as he suddenly got really close to Ruby.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm just a bit sore is all, that Torchwich guy really hits hard." Ruby said but was suddenly hugged tightly by AJ.

"OH THANK GOD! I thought he really had hurt you there…" AJ said with relief that his friend was ok. Ruby blushed but hugged him back.

"Hey, what about me?" Blake asked, a bit jealous. 'Wait, I'm not jealous, am I?' she thought.

AJ turned to her and suddenly jumped to her side. "What? Did he hurt you too? Are you ok?" He asked with serious concern.

Blake laughed a little. "Yes AJ, I'm fine." She said and he hugged her as well.

"Oh good! That's a relief! I really thought he had hurt you guys." AJ said, saddened by the thought.

"The only one her hurt was Ruby before you went berserk." Sun commented and AJ let go of Blake and looked at Sun in confusion. "What? You don't remember going crazy?"

"Um… no. I blacked out when I confronted Roman after he hurt Ruby." AJ answered, confused.

"Yeah, you went all red and nearly killed Torchwick." Sun explained.

"You really don't remember that?" Blake asked. "Cause we thought you might hurt us if we got in the way. It was like it wasn't even you."

The boy from Earth was sad that he had scared them. "Sorry, I just saw him hurt you guys in my head and I wanted to protect you all."

"It's ok AJ." Blake said softly. "We can take care of ourselves too you know."

"Hey wait, how come I don't get a checkup and hug?" Sun complained.

Blake and Ruby smiled at that. "You have Gun-Chucks, you're fine!" AJ said with a smile and Blake and Ruby finally laughed.

"Speaking of weapons, do you have a name for yours yet?" Sun asked.

"Um… Nipzona?" (the P is silent so it doesn't sound so stupid) AJ said more like it was a question than a statement. "Can I just use a made up word?"

"There isn't anything against using a made up word but that sounds like a magic spell or something." Sun said. AJ just shrugged and decided it was better to have a dumb name for it than no name.

They heard walking behind them and turned to see Weiss and Yang walking up to them. AJ looked the opposite way of them to avoid getting angry again.

"Weiss, I want you to know I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was-" Blake started.

"Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you two?" Weiss asked. AJ was surprised she hadn't yelled at them yet. "12 hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in that time I've decided… I don't care!"

"You don't…care?" Blake asked, surprised.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, no I'm not."

"Then that's all that matters! I just need to know that next time something this big comes up you'll come to your teammates, and not some…" Weiss looked at Sun. "Someone else." She said avoiding any rude descriptions.

Blake rubbed away her tears of joy that almost came out. "Of course, thank you Weiss." Everyone smiled for a moment but then they all saw AJ with his back to them. Weiss slowly approached him.

"AJ…" Weiss started actually sounding like she was sorry. AJ didn't respond. "I'm sorry… For what I said. I realize now that not all Faunus are bad and I shouldn't have worded things the way I did. You and Blake are proof of good Faunus. I always try to forget the one time you helped me. I'll admit it, I don't like that I was helped. But that's just my pride getting in the way. You came over to me when I was depressed. _You_ of all people, found me and comforted me even when I yelled at you and told you to leave. What I'm getting at is… can you find some way to forgive me?" Weiss asked and AJ stood there for what felt like an eternity in thought.

…

…

…

The silence was finally broken by a sigh from AJ before he finally turned around and looked her in the eye.

"You have shown me twice now that you do have a heart. It's going to take a lot, but I am going to give you another chance and try to find some way to forgive you." AJ said without a smile but you could tell his words were sincere. Everyone, especially Weiss, sighed in relief and smiled.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered.

"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" Weiss said pointing at Sun.

AJ rolled his eyes, showing that things really were back to normal. "I suppose that's to be expected." He said.

"Hey wait, where's Penny?" Ruby asked and everyone looked around and saw no sign of her.

"Hey guys, it looks like it's gonna rain. We should head home." Yang pointed out. Everyone looked up and frowned except for AJ, who looked up and smiled like this was a beautiful day.

"Oh, is it?" AJ said excitedly.

Before they headed back a police member approached them. "Sorry about this but I have one last question for all of you, it's required your ages are put in the reports. Sorry, I forgot to ask the first time." He said.

"17." Yang.

"15!" Ruby.

"17." Weiss.

"17." Blake.

"17." Sun.

"17." AJ.

"All right, thanks." The policeman said as he left.

There was moment of silence as the group was about to start walking but that silence was interrupted by Ruby.

"Wait! You said you were 16, didn't you!?" Ruby asked, surprised.

"Yeah." AJ responded.

"Then when did your birthday happen!?" Ruby asked, surprised he hadn't said this earlier.

"I don't know." AJ shrugged. "Couple weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Blake asked before Ruby could yell again.

"I don't celebrate my birthday." AJ said backing away from Ruby.

"Well you are SO getting a late birthday party!" Yang said with a smile.

"NO! I don't want a birthday party! You can get presents if you absolutely insist but I hate parties! Please." AJ begged. They argued for a while about this but AJ was adamant about the lack of a party so RWBY reluctantly agreed.

* * *

All the way back to Beacon they had smiles on their faces as team RWBY was finally whole again. But AJ wasn't smiling about that, Blake saw he was always looking up at the dark clouds and the shadowed scenery with a smile on his face. He seemed so happy and Blake couldn't stop looking. While they were on the airship heading to Beacon he was looking up and out the windows, still with a smile like it was a beautiful clear sky.

When they got to the academy and to their dorms Blake saw AJ walk outside onto the roof when it was pouring rain. She peeked through the door and saw him standing in the rain with his hood down and looking up into the rain with a smile. She watched him stand there for a while wondering how a cat Faunus could stand being in the rain. He waved his hand above him and his Aura flowed out and the white mist made the rain sparkle as it hit it. He started walking around doing this until the air above the roof was sparking with rain as it passed through the veil of Aura. It was a beautiful sight and they were both too entranced by it to move. It was as if the rain was trapped in the veil and became small ice crystals, while in reality it just makes the rain sparkle as it passes through. There were so many sparkles it actually made the place glow in the lack of light being it was nighttime. Blake decided to leave before he found out she was there and go back to her dorm and sleep. Only she was called by Ozpin.

"Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening." Ozpin said as he walked into the room with his mug and cane. The room had a single table with a light above it and a chair on either side of it. Blake was sitting in the seat furthest from the door. "I'm sure after a night of thwarting attempted robbery you would like nothing more than to go back to your dorm and take a nap, but, I was hoping maybe we might have a chance to talk." Ozpin said as he sat in the seat across the table.

"Of course." Blake said nodding.

"Wonderful. I'll make this quick though in case AJ gets worried, he's very protective of his friends, as I'm sure you have seen. Any ways, as you know, in order to enroll at this academy, students must pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most train for years at one of the many combat schools around the world. You are one of the few who did not, you passed the exam with flying colors."

"I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight you can't survive." Blake said.

"Oh you most certainly survived Blake. I admire your drive, and am proud to run a school that excepts individuals from all walks of life. Rich, poor, male, female, human, you've seen we except Faunus as well and I am most proud of that, there's someone who isn't even from this world." Ozpin said the last part like it was nothing major. Blake looked at him in disbelief but he ignored it. "Blake why do still wear that bow? You take it off when you're in your dorm and AJ shows it fully now, why not you?"

"AJ wanted to stop hiding, regardless what people thought, as long as he had a friend who would be there for him, I simply gave him the push he needed, I was that friend. I am not ready to do that yet, I can't have the attention. With all due respect, humans don't give us much respect yet, despite the supposed strides you have taken."

"AJ despises attention and he did it anyway. I will not force you Blake, but there simply is no reason to wear that bow and hide what you are."

"I want people to see me as an individual, not a Faunus. For who I am, not what I am."

"AJ said something once, that the animal traits didn't make you any different from anyone else. He said you are still human regardless, everyone else sees humans and Faunus as two different things so to hear him say that was a surprise. Most Faunus fight for equality, he wants people to see there isn't a major difference to begin with. But about what you said, what are you then?" he asked.

"I… don't understand the question."

"How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?" Ozpin turned serious.

"I didn't. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"You wouldn't be the first. But what happened tonight was not an isolated incident. I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman, and it is my duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it. Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"

"I'm sure."

"Very well. Thank you for your time, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin said as he got up and left with his cane and mug. "If you ever need to talk to me, please don't hesitate to ask." he said before he finally left.

Ozpin walked back to the elevator to his office and stopped just before he entered. "I assume you have something to say?" He asked without turning around.

"Yeah, I noticed your little sentimental and caring tone at the end but that doesn't excuse threatening and interrogating her! My best friend!" AJ said angrily.

"You know why I did that, AJ." Ozpin said turning towards him.

"I don't care why!" AJ said before leaving and heading to his room. Ozpin sighed before getting in the elevator.

"Protective indeed, and a distrust of authority no matter how much he likes the authority figure." Ozpin said to himself as the elevator started its ascent.

* * *

Blake waited till AJ joined their lunch table to ask about yesterday.

"Hey, AJ. I saw some students yesterday who didn't like that it was raining and others were kind of depressed by the dark and rainy day. So why did you seem to be happier because of it?" Blake asked and everyone else awaited an answer.

"Well, I understand clear skies are beautiful and all, but they're so bland. A cloudy day is much more interesting to me. I prefer any form of inclement weather over a clear day. The darkness of a rainy day is just more interesting to me." He said with a smile and everyone was somewhat surprised by this. Everyone else sees a clear day as a beautiful day but they understood his reason for preferring a cloudy day over a clear one, that doesn't mean they agree though.

Not much longer and it will be time for a two week break and the next semester. It had been a few weeks since the event with the White Fang. Things were relatively normal for everyone now, it didn't go unnoticed by AJ how tired Blake was lately but she said she would take a break during the school break so he assumed she would be fine. But now, he had to go through one more match in Glynda's class. Two cloaked figures stood on stage, one was tall and one was short. The cloaks were the same in ways, like how they both went down almost to the ankle.

One was colored red, the other brown.

"Alright, last day of school! Let's do this!" AJ cheered.

"Yeah!" Ruby yelled excitedly.

"Begin."

 **Red like Roses part II**

Ruby charged him with her speed semblance, he redirected with his sword but she was a blur leaving rose petals everywhere. He waited for the attack, hearing the shots she kept firing to keep moving, and ended up failing to react in time as he was hit a few times before he jumped away from that spot. He let out his Aura and stared forward, then smirked. He jumped and rolled in midair dodging a slice, he landed and crouched dodging another, he jumped again, dodging again, landed and jumped backwards, dodging, he suddenly stuck his foot out to his left without looking and Ruby came into view again falling on her face.

"Not bad." He calmly said before punching the ground where she was lying at, but she sped off and hit him again on the way out. She stopped on the other side of the stage and started firing at him with her weapon in gun mode. He blocked the slow paced shots with his sword a few times then jumped to avoid a shot instead and willed his bow into existence and pointed at her, she knew what this meant but wasn't sure what to do about it. He appeared in front of her hitting her once with his sword, she turned her Crescent Rose into scythe mode and shot, swinging the blade at him. He simply moved into her guard and blocked the sword by grabbing the pole of the weapon. His hand had a faint white glow.

"Plot twist!" he said like it was a punch line to some joke and jumped away for her. Her precious appeared untouched but she didn't trust it.

"What did you do!?" She yelled across the stage.

"My semblance, Copycat." His Aura kept flowing off him yet he used more Aura, and again, an outer layer of Energy to keep the shape, to make Crescent Rose in his hand, only the red was replaced with pure white and the red appeared in his jeans instead. Yes I'm saying his blue jeans turned the color of her cloak. "Pun partially intended." He said as he got into a stance Ruby knew well, he cocked the bolt and crouched, pointing the scythe behind him. Ruby took the stance as well, she had a serious look on her face while AJ had an excited smile.

They both vanished, white feathers and rose petals flowed throughout the stage, sounds of gunfire and weapons clashing were constant. Their Aura would occasionally go down a chunk. After a while they slowed down and they saw them in the middle of the stage. Ruby sliced at AJ who blocked with his scythe and struck at her, she jumped away and jumped back at him firing to spin her weapon, and he blocked but was knocked back. They both stopped and breathed heavily for a few seconds. AJ lost his Aura mist. It was clear now that they weren't moving that AJ's scythe had cracks in it that were glowing white, which made them hard to see on a white weapon, but her Crescent Rose is red and black, and only the primary color red was replaced with white so the black was still present and made it easy to see the cracks.

"You two aren't quitting are you?" Glynda asked, smiling, knowing the reaction she would get by asking this.

AJ chuckled. "Nope."

"Not a chance." Ruby said, smiling as well.

They shot behind themselves and dashed towards each other beginning anew with the invisible fight. Once again the only sign of a fight is the sound and the items they leave behind.

 _Red Like Roses_

 _Fills my head with dreams_

 _And finds me_

 _Always closer_

 _To the emptiness and sadness_

 _That has come to take the place_

"OF!" The both yelled as they reappeared in the middle of the stage right next to each other with mad smiles on their faces, their cloaks flowing behind them from moving, and their weapons behind them as well, the two of them were surrounded by white feathers and red rose petals, ready for one big swing, they both fired to propel their swing, "YOU!" they both shouted, but Ruby was the one to land the hit and put AJ's Aura into the red.

"Ruby Rose is the winner. Well done you two!" Glynda said with a smile and applause filled the crowd of students. "I think that was a good final match everyone! Have fun during your break and don't cause too much trouble!" Glynda said and people left the class or went to congratulate Ruby and AJ.

"Dang it! Good one Ruby." AJ said as he stood up, his white version of Crescent Rose disappeared and his jeans were blue again.

"Thanks! You did good too! And what an awesome semblance you have!" Ruby said.

"No kidding! You copy peoples weapons!? That's pretty badass." Yang said as the rest of team RWBY, and team JNPR walked up.

"So _that's_ what you meant by multiple fighting styles!" Weiss realized. "I thought glyphs were your semblance!"

"No, I can barely use glyphs besides the simple one that acts like a wall, still helps but I can't do much more than that and maybe a speed glyph." AJ explained. "And that one glyph that exploads."

"How did you know how to use her weapon though?" Jaune asked.

"Well, while Ruby is crazy about weapons, I'm secretly wondering what that weapon has been through. When I copy a weapon I learn about all the fights it's been in and learn how to use it all in an instant. It's a pretty incredible feeling." AJ said with a smile.

"Alright that's just freaking awesome!" Yang said with a laugh.

"So there you go! That's my semblance!" AJ said.

Weiss grabbed Ruby and pulled her away from the group and whispered something to her. They eventually turned to the others.

"Sorry guys, we gotta go to our dorm for a team meeting, see ya! Come on AJ." Ruby said.

They went to their dorm.

"So I'm guessing this is about my-" AJ started as he was the first to walk into team RWBY's dorm.

"Happy Birthday!" They all cheered.

"Ah, so this _is_ about that." AJ deadpanned.

"Cheer up you! We aren't letting you just not celebrate your birthday! So we got you some presents!" Yang said. They were all smiling at him so he wasn't gonna say no.

"Alrighty then. What did you get?" He asked.

"I got you a custom headset, you said you like music so…" Ruby said as she handed him the headset. Dark grey with his symbol on the sides in white, the circle with wings inside that touch the edge of the circle. The symbol is on the back of his black shirt but it's hard to see behind the cloak.

"Wow, thanks Ruby." He said as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Consider that from the both of us since I had to pay for it but Ruby had the idea of it." Yang said. He nodded in thanks to her.

Weiss stepped forward with a familiar white briefcase. "I got you a few different types of Dust to try out. You said you wanted to use it."

"Wow, thank you Weiss." AJ said with an overdramatic bow.

"You better know how to use it by the time I get back from break." Weiss demanded.

"Yeah, I'll try, it didn't really work last time." AJ said sheepishly. 'Stupid Energy neutralizing any Dust I touch.'

"And what did you get Blake? Are you gonna kiss him?" Yang asked teasingly.

Blake blushed and walked up to him. AJ blushed as well thinking she might actually do it. She hugged him suddenly.

"I just want to say thank you, thank you so much for being there for me, for all of us." Blake said.

AJ returned the hug and smiled. "Of course, you guys are always there for me, I can never thank you guys enough for that."

Everyone "aww'd" at that and he glared at them with his eyes glowing over Blake's shoulder and they all looked away from them, avoiding his gaze.

"Even so," Blake said pulling out of the hug but still with her arms around him, she quickly kissed him on the cheek before letting go. "Thank you." She said before backing up to where the others were.

When Weiss, Yang, and Ruby looked back up they saw AJ blushing immensely and holding his left hand to his cheek with his mouth open slightly. He saw them looking at him and he looked away from all of them.

"Wait, you _did_ kiss him?" Yang asked, actually surprised. Blake blushed more than she already was and looked away. Yang started laughing. "Congratulations birthday boy!" She said before continuing her laughter.

"It was just a thank you." Blake mumbled.

"It's not even my birthday anymore." AJ mumbled without looking at them.

* * *

After more laughing and teasing they met up with JNPR and started heading towards the airships out of Beacon. All they talked about was their plans for the break except AJ who lagged behind everyone, Ren noticed this and slowed down to walk beside him.

"Are you alright?" Ren asked.

"I'm fine, I just… I'm not going anywhere for the break, I'm staying here and I'm gonna keep training. I'm just gonna be a bit lonely is all, but I hope you all have fun." AJ said with an honest smile at the end.

"Actually, Jaune and Pyrrha are staying to train as well." Ren pointed out.

"Oh, really?" AJ asked.

"Yes, and Blake said she's staying because she doesn't really have anywhere to be or family to see, so she'll just keep an eye on their dorm." Ren said and AJ visually brightened in demeanor. "I have to say, despite all the colorful members of the group, you are the most… interesting one."

"I won't deny I'm interesting but I'm hardly the most interesting." AJ said with a chuckle.

"The big detail about you that shows more than the others is how much you care for all of us, even me and the rest of JNPR, and you seem to forgive them in the end no matter how bad they wrong you." Ren said, referring to Weiss on that last part.

"Friends are the most important thing to me." AJ explained.

"That really shows with how protective you are. The one time Cardin tried to hurt Jaune, not just bully him, you almost broke his legs. You also literally get between us and Cardin when he walks by. No one see's it except me but I see you suddenly move to another part of the group and glare at Cardin as he walks by. You even hugged Weiss when she was depressed, no one else would have done that. None of us _wanted_ to do that at the time. We all see each other as friends and comrades and we would fight for each other, but you and Jaune are the ones that I'm sure would die for us if you thought you needed to."

"I hope it never comes to that though."

"I hope so as well. But what I'm getting at here is that, you don't treat us like friends, more like…" Ren searched for the word, he found one but wasn't sure if he should say it.

"Family. You are all family to me." AJ said with a smile. 'Since I don't have any to speak of here.'

"We are a really weird family then." Blake commented with a smile as she fell back in step with them.

The group was outside and not far from the airships so they all turned to look at each other.

"See you all in a week and a half!" Ruby said next to Yang who threw them a peace sign.

"Yep." Ren said with a sigh next to Nora who was bouncing around, ready to leave.

"Have fun." Jaune said to Ruby and Yang before turning to Ren. "Good luck." He whispered and Ren nodded his head in thanks.

Ren saw AJ looking depressed again and Blake stood next to him trying to comfort him. "Hey guys." Everyone looked at Ren. "We should do a group picture for the most caring person in our group." He tilted his head towards AJ who went to deny the statement. "It's the least we could do."

"That's a bold statement." Weiss said.

"Yes but you of all people know it's true." Ren said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah! Group picture!" Ruby cheered.

"Sure." Pyrrha said and she and Jaune walked over.

"Guys, really, I'm not." AJ said.

"You help all of us whenever there is a problem. You stole a cookie and gave it to Ruby when she was stressed about a test, you sparred with Yang when she needed to loosen up, the thing with Weiss, you helped Jaune a few times with his sword training. When you help us like that asking nothing in return it's hard to say you aren't the most caring one of all of us." Ren pointed out.

"Come on AJ, you know you are." Blake said.

"I know, I just wish he wouldn't point it out." AJ whispered, blushing at the attention.

"Wait, who's gonna take the picture?" Weiss asked.

"No! Someone's gonna have to be out of the picture!?" Ruby asked, saddened by the thought.

"I can fix that." Ozpin said coming out with his cane and mug.

"Ozpin?" AJ said surprised.

"Would you really be willing to take the picture sir?" Jaune asked.

"Of course." Ozpin said with a nod and put his mug down to take out his Scroll. "Alright everyone."

Blake stood with AJ in the middle, Ruby to his right and Jaune to his left after Blake, Yang after Ruby, holding her little sis in a headlock, Pyrrha after Jaune, Weiss after Yang at the far left end of the picture, Ren on the far right of the picture with Nora on his shoulders. Smiles on everyone's faces regardless. No one could be happier at this point.

They would see each other like this again in just less than two weeks and continue school and training with a new semester, but while they were all just happy and enjoying the moment, their enemies were plotting. Torchwich and Cinder Fall would not just stop after the failure at the shipyard, not by a long shot.

A few more laughs and farewells left Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and AJ walking back to the school. The group were all looking at the picture which Ozpin had sent to them.

'I think there are… 16 different ways to combine our names into a team name.' AJ thought. 'Never mind there are a LOT more ways! Well then… hmm…'

"You look deep in thought, what are you thinking?" Blake asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I just for some reason started thinking of a way to make the four of us into a team, but there are so many ways to combine our initials." AJ said going into his thoughts again.

"You're making a team name out of us?" Blake asked smiling at the silly thought. AJ nodded.

"JAPB… JABP… I have no idea." AJ said giving up. "Too much to think about right now."

The next day was the first day of the break and the cafeteria was quiet to say the least, with many of the students leaving to see family and or friends for the break.

"Almost as quiet as the library here." AJ pointed out.

"The library isn't quiet when the others are playing that board game though." Blake said sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I enjoy the game and all but I don't get why they bring it to the library." AJ said.

"I know, right!?" Jaune said, sitting across from them.

"It is rather disruptive for everyone else." Pyrrha said annoyed by the thought.

"Hey, since the library is actually really quiet, wanna go there after?" Jaune asked. The two Faunus agreed.

"No, Jaune, we're going to the roof to train after this." Pyrrha ordered.

"Aww…" Jaune said depressingly.

Those four didn't bond as much as you would expect. They bonded, sure, but mostly the two pairs bonded, Blake and AJ were always in the library or their dorms, while Jaune and Pyrrha spent their time training. AJ had to find extra time to try and use Dust again as well. He first tried to hold and use Dust but the Energy he has turns the crystal white until he releases the crystal. He realized this shouldn't be able to work because he can't just get rid of the Energy he has, but he told Weiss he would try so he would simply continue to try different things till he figured it out.

* * *

AJ was currently standing in Ozpin's office waiting patiently for Ozpin to begin.

"Ozpin… it's the last day of the break, and my friends are hanging out without me right now, so may we please start soon?" AJ asked politely.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "Of course, I just wanted to tell you that I still have no leads on how to get you back to your world and… well I was wondering… Do you even want to go back anymore? You and Blake are getting along better than ever and well, you're getting along great with all of them now. Do you really want to contin-"

"No."

Ozpin actually looked shocked, which was a lot of emotion for him.

"I don't want to leave sir." AJ said depressingly. "As much as I will miss my family and friends, I have new ones here, I couldn't be happier here. You can just stop wasting your time searching, you likely weren't gonna find anything anyway."

"Are you sure of this? That is a very big decision you are making." Ozpin said.

"I'm sure!" AJ said immediately.

Ozpin thought for a minute. "If you truly are sure, you may go join your friends now."

"Thank you sir." AJ said with a slight bow of his upper body before leaving.

'There he goes again, calling me sir, he even bowed! I suppose he shows respect to show his immense thanks. He treats me like an equal otherwise.'

AJ spent the walk over to the cafeteria happy as could be. He didn't have to leave them anymore, he was here to stay.

As he was getting close to the cafeteria he saw everyone running from it and he was pretty sure he saw Yang go flying out the roof and into the sky.

"What a place to stay." AJ said out loud, shaking his head in amusement, before running to the cafeteria.

* * *

 **And that is the end of volume one of TPOR, TPOoR… idk which to call it... Whatever.**

 **Now we have to do volume one of that other storyline we have going here in Fate. Team S.P.W.M.! Don't worry, the first vol of that was rushed so it will only take three more chapters.**

 **Anyway, follow, fav, review if you want, just don't flame or be rude in general.**

 **Have a great day everyone!**


	10. The Plus One of RWBY: Weakness

**I have a little… something for you all. Those of you who had read the original TPOR in particular will like it. I was going to put it in EXTRAS, but I decided to put it here.**

 **It takes place sometime before the argument and Blake and AJ running away and all that. I won't say specifically when since it doesn't matter, but there were a few time skips in the fic, so it took place during one of those.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY: When you show weakness

* * *

Weiss knew how people reacted when you were weak.

She learned that the hard way, when she got her scar.

She thought her father, of all people, would comfort her, but he scolded her for her weakness.

Yeah, she learned that the hard way…

…Everyone treats you differently when you show weakness.

So she chose to never show weakness, to always seem strong.

What she viewed as strength, AJ saw as just being rude.

It was just another day at lunch, with teams RWBY and JNPR sitting together at their tables.

AJ recognized that Weiss was one of his teammates, and he was just going to have to deal with the fact that she was rude and bratty at times. Today though, she was even more rude. By more rude, I mean that she actually interrupted conversations she had no part of far more often just to say rude and disrespectful things.

One of those times just happened to be when AJ and Ruby were joking and laughing.

"Honestly! Could you two be any more annoying!? You both have such stupid sounding laughs, and your jokes aren't even funny!" Weiss suddenly yelled at them.

Now if that was the first outburst of that day, they would have been shocked, but outbursts like that had been happening all day.

Ruby's mood was ruined for a little bit, but remembering that Weiss seemed to just be in a mood today, she got over it and assumed no hard feelings. She did really want to ask Weiss if she was ok and help her out, but she made it clear that she did not want any help.

They had already asked her if she was ok, but she refused to answer/ insisted that she was fine.

AJ however, wasn't as able to get over it. Few things ruined his mood more than being pulled out of a really good mood by interruptions, people being rude, etc.

He sent Weiss a _very_ displeased glare and frown, but she scoffed, like she was above him and didn't have to worry about his anger. Somehow he was able to calm himself down, but he found no way to be in a good mood again. He couldn't be happy now without having to worry about Ice Queen ruining things.

Though as lunch went on, other members finally got tired of Weiss's behavior.

"What is up with you, Weiss?" Yang asked, annoyed. "You've had a serious attitude all day."

"I have not!"

"You've been yelling so much I haven't been able to read for more than five minutes." Blake spoke up, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"That should be plenty of time!" Weiss argued.

"You yelled at Nora so much about how many pancakes she ate you actually made her feel bad about it." Pyrrha pointed out, looking disappointed with Weiss.

"It's okay Pyrrha! I'm over it!" Nora said happily.

She then went to stab her next pancake with her fork, but she stopped herself, looking sad. Ren glared at Weiss when he saw this.

"But she does eat too much!" Weiss pointed out.

"That's just who she is. You can't force her to change like this." Ren argued. "Go ahead, Nora. You can eat." He said softly to the girl.

"And you insulted Jaune repeatedly." Pyrrha added.

"I do that all the time." Weiss pointed out uncaringly.

"She does that all the time." Jaune pointed out casually, the only one here seemingly unaffected by Weiss's behavior.

"She's doing it even more than usual though!" Pyrrha argued to Jaune before turning back to Weiss. "Why are you being so rude today!?"

"Seriously Ice Queen, what is your problem?" Yang demanded.

"Why are you being so mean today, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Weiss abruptly stood up and fast-walked out of the cafeteria.

Yang let out an annoyed "tch" sound upon seeing this. "About time."

"Agreed." Pyrrha said.

"Maybe we shouldn't have-" Ruby was cut off by AJ abruptly standing up from the table.

They all looked at him and, maybe he just forgot to remove the glare he had sent towards Weiss not long ago, but he seemed to be glaring _at them_. He then proceeded to walk out the same way Weiss had gone.

"Done that…" Ruby finished.

"Why was he angry at us?" Yang asked, confused. "Isn't he the one that probably hates Weiss more than any of us?"

"He looked… disappointed?" Pyrrha noted, confused.

AJ quickly caught up with Weiss, but followed far enough behind her so she would notice him as she stomped through the halls, glaring at everyone that passed by and scaring them away. After following her for awhile she suddenly turned and walked into an empty classroom and shut the door.

Neko went back into AJ's mind so he could use his Faunus senses to listen through the door. He didn't hear crying, or yelling… he didn't hear anything really. Fearing the worst he opened the door and quickly walked in, only to find her standing in the middle of the room, her back towards him.

Hearing the door open and close, Weiss turned towards him. "What do _you_ want!?" She asked angrily. She came here to be alone and he was disturbing the silence.

He walked down the steps towards her, holding his right arm out so Neko could come out, and jump over to a nearby chair so he was out of the way and could watch.

Weiss stared him right in the eyes, but she wasn't looking at his bright green-gold eyes, she was looking at dull green eyes that were at that moment far more grey than green. Despite her anger towards him, she saw in his eyes that he was sad, and he felt sad for her. She couldn't help but notice what seemed to be understanding in his eyes. 'How could he possibly understand me?' "Well!? What do you wa-"

She was cut off when he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Hey! Let go of me!" She yelled as she tried to struggle.

"Shut up. You need this." He said simply and continued to hold her.

She struggled at first, but when she realized he wasn't going to let go, she stopped struggling. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, confused, but refused to look up at him.

"Because I feel bad." He answered. "You were clearly just having a really bad day. You really should try not to take it out on others, but still, I don't want you to feel this way."

"Why though? I thought you hated me." Weiss pointed out.

"You're annoying as hell." AJ answered honestly. "But you're still human, and I couldn't just leave you after being ganged up on by your friends like that. No one should ever feel betrayed like that. No one should be hated by everyone… I wanted to make sure you knew that not everyone hated you, and that I know this isn't really your fault."

It was at this moment she realized that she was feeling comfortable in his arms, and was resting her head on his chest, which she stopped doing. However, she still couldn't bring herself to struggle again. It actually felt nice to be hugged. It had been a very long time since she got a hug she actually wanted. Ruby had hugged her, but she always found it annoying and embarrassing.

"I… have been having a very stressful day." Weiss reluctantly admitted.

"And having everyone yell at you isn't really helping, is it?" AJ asked sarcastically. "Do you want me to let go now?"

She wanted him to let go but at the same time really didn't, so it took her awhile to answer.

"Y-Yes…"

He did as requested, then looked at her, noticing her expression was far softer now. She seemed to be feeling better now.

"Sometimes we just have really bad days." AJ started. "On those days, it really helps to have someone just hug you for a bit." He paused, wondering if he should say it or not. '…I wish that happened to me when I had all those bad days... No. I'm not gonna say it, it doesn't matter. She deserves hugs, not me.' "So, are you going to be okay now?

"…Yes…Thank you." Weiss said hesitantly.

"You're welcome… We should probably head back. Lunch will be over soon." He said before starting to walk towards the door out of the class. He turned back to make sure she was following him.

When they walked out the door she stopped him. "Let me make one thing clear. This. Never. Happened. Do not expect me to treat you any differently, because I will treat you as I always did. Understood?"

He simply smiled in understanding. "Of course." He said with a slight bow.

Weiss spent more time than she would like to admit trying to understand what had happened. Why did he of all people help her? Why did he seem to understand her pain? And what he said about being hated by everyone, what was that about?

Weiss was a smart girl though. As she thought about it, she began to believe more and more that he was, and maybe still is, in pain. Maybe that look in his eyes was just bad memories and feelings resurfacing? She had never seen that look in his eyes before, so it was possible. Maybe he was just good at hiding it?

Like… Like she was…

And then she realized she had trapped herself. She couldn't go back on what she said and try to help _him_ now, she had to treat him as she always did. It's not like she would know how to help him anyway… What if he just wants a hug, like he said? Maybe someone just needed to comfort him.

Maybe she was just seeing things, overthinking things. Maybe he was fine. Why would he help everyone so much if he actually needed help himself? Wouldn't he be like her? Unable to help others because of how much pain she was in?

No, she had to be seeing things. He didn't show strength like she always tried to do. He must be fine. He can't really be hiding his emotions like she was, she would have been able to see it!

But now that she thought about it, he didn't just help her, he helped her when she showed weakness. She was weak, and he helped her! He didn't hurt her, make fun of her, he didn't do anything bad but force her to realize she needed a hug!

For a moment she was worried. Worried that what she thought was wrong. That when you're weak, people don't always treat you differently. She couldn't be wrong! There had to be another expla-

And there it was.

He treated her nicely and helped her when she showed weakness. Normally he doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't really like her.

She calmed down then, realizing she wasn't wrong.

'People always treat you differently when you show weakness.

Apparently though, that isn't always a bad thing.' She thought with a smile.

* * *

 **Yeah, I felt like that moment I had brought up but not actually put into a chapter should have its moment here. I had the idea of a scene where he comforted Weiss, but saw no good place to actually put it in, so I just kind of brought it up at one point without going into detail, till now.**

 **And for the record, I don't actually believe that people will** _ **always**_ **treat you differently when you show weakness, but Weiss has no proof against that idea, and that last part was from her point of view, so that's really what she believes.**

 **Hope you enjoyed, don't flame, and have a great day!**


	11. TPOR: What really happened during break

**Pulled this from EXTRAS, decided to make it canon. Warning, this has fluff and romantic stuff in it, cause I'm a hopeless romantic. :3**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The Plus One of RWBY: What _really_ happened during the break

* * *

So, let's set up the scene.

A boy and girl are in love, they both know they are.

The boy believes the girl couldn't possibly like him.

The girl is trying to protect herself by not falling in love.

Alright, now we elaborate.

Blake never wanted to be in love, even though she had heard all of the mushy stuff about love. She read romance books, but was certain it would never work out for her, the guy would cheat on her at some point, or something like that. It didn't help that she was beautiful, she knew this, and has had a few guys try to approach her.

AJ thought Blake was beautiful in every way.

Her hair, her body, her face, her voice, but especially her eyes, her amber eyes, he always had to fight not to get lost in her eyes.

It was clear they were good friends, but he was sure it wouldn't be anything more than that. He may have changed a lot from when he lived on earth, he may exercise now, he may eat healthy (sometimes) now, he may have incredible powers that he couldn't help but show off with, he still felt that he didn't look attractive, even if Yang had actually called him cute when they first met, Yang always liked to tease. She was always teasing him and Blake about getting together. He would love for that to happen, but he was sure it wouldn't happen, and even if it did, Blake would probably not like the way he acts around those he loves, he didn't know that, but he assumed it.

It was better to have never loved at all, then to have loved and lost.

The two cat Faunus agreed with that idea, unlike others who would disagree with this.

They didn't think it was better to have loved and lost, AJ had loved and lost, he didn't like how it left him wanting to be in love again.

No matter how much he wanted to, he told himself he didn't need to be in love, he knew that was true, he always thinks logically, he knew he was happy the way he is, even if he wants to be in love, he IS happy already. Trying for love and having it not work out would ruin him, he would never be happy again if that happened.

Blake had kissed him on the cheek once, as a birthday gift, as a thank you, that's what he told himself. Others would see that as a sign, but for all he knew, this could be just Blake being very grateful, maybe she was just this way around guys, he had gone through that once.

* * *

Standing in a hallway, back on Earth. Waiting for the teacher to unlock the door to the class, most of the class would be there by that time.

At the moment though, it was just him, and this one girl that he sort of knew. They never hung out, but he knew her name and knew she was nice, unlike everyone else at school. What he didn't get, was why the girl had both arms locked around his left arm right now.

He wanted to speak, but for some reason never said anything and just looked at her wondering why she did this. She didn't like him, did she? Right… as if! She never looked at him either, just hugged his arm. He stood still and wanted to find a way out before someone saw this and said something, or didn't say anything to them and just spread rumors.

Suddenly the door to the hall opened and another student going to another class was just walking in. AJ quickly snaked his arm out of her grip, she clearly didn't like it, but she didn't say anything and they simply stood there waiting till the rest of the class, and then the teacher, finally came and they were able to go into class. Nobody had ever commented on that, so he assumes no one saw that. It was just a weird scenario, neither of them said a word the entire time.

AJ wanted to say he was sorry, and to ask why she did that, but he never did. He would see her a month or two later walking with a guy, so he figured they were together, then he would see her with other guys, with groups of guys, she flirted with all of them, so he figured it was just her way and she wasn't actually interested in him.

* * *

For all he knew, Blake could be like that. Sure, he should know her well after being good friends from pretty much the beginning of the semester, but he never saw her around other guys, so he had no way to know.

Blake, meanwhile, was conflicted.

She was pretty sure she was in love, virtually certain. She had to be careful not to get lost in his green eyes, they would always sparkle, and not just because he was happy, but because there were little flecks of gold in the midst of the green. His personality was so sweet and friendly, yet he could also be serious when he wanted to be, and he could get very angry as well. But in the end, she just always wanted to be around him, then there was a little voice in her head, the voice of her former self, telling her to get away from him before he breaks her heart. Meanwhile a much louder voice would say to get closer to him before some other girl, like Yang, came and took him from her.

They were best friends, and Yang wouldn't stop teasing about being more than that. Blake both loved and hated the idea. She wanted to not be anything more that friends with him, yet at the same time she was always getting closer to him, and always wanting to get even closer, to be able to fall in love, she was so torn about it.

She hated and loved every moment around him, watching him fight was fascinating, the abilities he had, the skill he had. They would go to the library, grab some books, sit at the same table and quietly read, she loved how calm she felt then, and hated it as well. She loved hearing him laugh suddenly while they were reading, and any time he made them laugh he would smile, she loved and hated that smile.

Not to mention the fact that she would rush over to his side if he needed help, she tried to tell herself it was just helping a friend, just helping a Faunus, just helping a fellow cat Faunus, but it was pretty clear what it really was.

So in the end, you could say Blake had it worse. Loving being around him, and her old self wanting to push away from him, to avoid love, to keep herself safe from heartbreak. Her old self, that tiny voice, hated that she was feeling this way. It was clear she was in love, but this little voice was determined to make her see otherwise.

So when it became clear Jaune and Pyrrha would be training over the two week break, and the others wouldn't be back till the last half of the last week, she wanted to stay away from AJ at all costs, and also wanted to be alone with him, to bond and maybe, just maybe, find out he loved her as well.

So after lunch was over, she and AJ went to the massive library that the school had. She grabbed a few books, AJ grabbed a few and said he would leave her be and go quietly read in his room.

She was glad he was leaving, but she also wanted him to stay, she also felt bad about making him stay, but the voice that said she was in love was much louder.

So she mentally berated herself as she politely asked AJ if he would stay and sit with her while they both read.

"Oh, sure. If you're ok with that." AJ said. He liked the idea of sitting next to her, and tried to get the idea of this going anywhere out of his head.

Blake was both mentally cheering that he stayed, while mentally yelling at herself because if he stays, this might go somewhere, and then they might start going out, and then she would be heartbroken when he left and she would never be truly happy again.

Then she realized something that could make the tiny voice get even quieter: AJ is a really sweet and nice guy, there is no way he would cheat on her, no way he would break up with her. She felt this made sense, she knew him pretty well after all, but that little voice kept her from fully believing that.

 _He doesn't love you, he would reject you, even if he didn't reject you immediately, he would do it later or he would cheat on you._

AJ quietly read his book and enjoyed the book, and Blake's presence. Even if they never ended up together, they were still best friends, and he was fine with that. His thoughts of the girl led him to glance at her, and find her face really close to his.

He tried to calm his racing heart and not look at her eyes.

"Um… Blake?... What is it?" He asked shyly.

There was a moment of silence before she answered.

"Sorry, thought I saw something in your hair." She said simply and turned back to her book.

Blake wanted to prove without any doubt that she did in fact fall in love with the boy. The fact her heart was racing when she got close to him made it clear to her.

She would try this again the next day, and the next, and the next. AJ most likely wondered why she kept getting so close but she didn't care, she was trying to see how close she could get, how much her heart would race. She tried it a few times with Jaune on their way to lunch. She ignored the glare Pyrrha gave her and focused on seeing how close she could get, only when AJ wouldn't notice though. Her heart didn't beat any faster, that was more evidence, yet that little voice wouldn't give up. She didn't care what it said anymore, she was trying to get her confidence now, to tell him how she felt and hope for the best. Jaune also wondered why she got so close but she never gave either boy an answer.

Pyrrha was more demanding though, so she did have to tell Pyrrha she wasn't trying anything with Jaune, but not telling her about her real plan. Pyrrha was fine with just knowing her Jaune was safe.

* * *

One of the last few days before their team came back.

AJ was reading a particularly sad part of the story, where the main character's best friend dies. Blake saw this and held his hand before she even realized her hand had moved. AJ froze and she did as well for a moment before trying to comfort him.

"Hey, you ok?" Blake asked, concerned.

"…Yeah… just a sad part in the story." AJ said staring at her hand holding his.

"Ok, you looked like you were really depressed there, I got worried."

"No I'm fine. It's just a story." AJ said and she released his hand.

'The way his hand twitched, he wanted nothing more than to hold my hand didn't he? He wanted to accept it but… why didn't he then?' Blake asked herself.

He didn't dare hold her hand. It took all his will not to hold her hand, she was just worried for him, she didn't think of him that way. Not possible.

Then on the last day before their teammates finally came back she had one final reading session with AJ.

"Well, tomorrow our team is gonna be back. No more private reading sessions without Yang teasing us about it." AJ said.

Blake sighed. "Oh well, it was fun."

"I had fun too."

"Thanks for taking time away to read with me." Blake thanked smiling and standing up from her chair.

"No problem." AJ said.

Before he could stand up Blake quickly kissed him on the cheek as a thank you and they both froze. She hadn't meant to do that.

So Blake just ran out the library as fast as she could till she got to RWBY's dorm.

'The look on his face when I did that! That blush he had! He might really like me after all!' Blake internally cheered and the little voice of her former self all but shut up completely. All it could do was complain now, and Blake wasn't gonna listen. She had gone through all of this, she wasn't gonna stop now. She needed to talk to him, alone, and admit her feelings.

She saw the look on his face, the look in his eyes, and for some reason she knew that he felt the same way she did.

But then their team came back and they had to welcome them while pretending nothing happened between them so Yang wouldn't suspect anything.

Soon though, she was going to tell him. She even thought of a way to get them both to admit their feelings at the same time. That moment when they first looked at each other… she would use that.

* * *

 **That was only a taste of the romance that I write! SOON YOU WILL ALL DROWN IN THE FLUFF!**

 **I hope you all have a great day!**


	12. Team SPWM Ch2

**And the story continues! Time to rush through volume one! It's hilarious actually how quickly this storyline goes through volume one and then how long it takes to get through volume 2.**

 **Also, assuming I actually do my homework, I won't be posting again till Tuesday or Wednesday. I probably will still end up posting something, but just know that I will be slowing down at that point.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Team S.P.W.M. Ch.2

* * *

" _Huh? Where am I?" AJ asked himself as he stood in infinite white._

" _In a realm that I couldn't really describe for a mortal." A voice said and AJ turned around to see an angel with long brown hair staring down at him._

" _I need you for something, I need all four of you for something." She said in a surprisingly NOT monotone voice, more like a teenager, and motioned around AJ and he looked to see Raymond, Sam, and Isaac all next to him just now standing up._

" _GUYS!? Are you all ok?" AJ asked them._

" _That depends, where are we?" Sam asked._

" _That isn't important, what is important is that you know this: You four are being sent to Remnant." The angel said._

" _Wait what?" The four of them said. Two excitedly and two confused._

" _Look, my sister who I haven't seen in a very long time told me to get you, so I did. Alright?" The angel explained._

" _So, why are we being sent to Remnant?" Raymond asked._

" _What's Remnant?" Sam asked._

" _I'll explain later." AJ said quickly._

" _You must choose your weapons if you want to live in this world. Don't worry, I will give you four adequate training the moment you first grab your own weapon." The angel explained. "Choose whatever you want. Literally anything just use your imagination."_

" _Ok, um… a lever action rifle that can change into almost any other weapon!" AJ said excitedly._

" _Just give me magic!" Raymond said excitedly._

" _I know what magic you are thinking of, thankfully." The angel said._

" _A war axe that can become a modern M14." Isaac said after some thought._

" _Two hatchets. Actually, two small war axes, and they can become two sawed-off shotguns!" Sam said, liking the idea._

" _Come on! You guys can do better than that!" AJ taunted._

" _Hey! We don't even know anything about this world we are being thrown into!" Isaac said defensively._

" _Well, I think it's good enough." Raymond said._

" _I suppose." AJ said, sighing._

" _Alright then, you four will be sent in, and you'll do fine, I'm sure of it!" The angel said proudly. "Oh, and there will also be four pistols placed just for you four, you'll figure that out later."_

" _Who are you, by the way?" AJ asked._

" _If you must know, I am the sister of the Angel of Emotion." The angel said. AJ and the others stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "I don't suppose you would believe that I'm the Angel of The Elements?" She asked hesitantly._

" _I don't know, are you?" AJ asked, crossing his arms and waiting for this angel to get to the point._

" _Why would there be an angel for all of the elements?" Isaac asked._

" _I've never heard of one." Sam commented._

 _The angel was growing more and more annoyed with each comment._

" _I don't know guys, she might be pulling our legs." Raymond said._

" _LOOK! I am the Angel of The Elements! And I am going to give three of you elemental powers to prove it!" The angel said angrily. "You'll find out what they are soon enough though." She said smugly._

" _Gee, if she can throw a tantrum, I'm not sure she really is an angel at all." AJ taunted._

" _Why only three?" Raymond asked._

" _You already have magic, you don't need an element." The angel said simply._

" _What about ammo?" Isaac wondered._

" _Oh don't worry, it's an anime, you never have to worry about ammo." The angel said simply, again._

" _Wait, ANIME!?" Sam asked/yelled._

" _Kay! Have to wipe your memories now! GOOD LUCK!" The angel said happily before waving her hand at them and everything went black._

* * *

"Wait, did we even grab a chess piece?" Isaac asked as they got up for their first day of school in Beacon.

"Now that you mention it…" Raymond said.

"No… we didn't…" Sam answered.

"Huh, Ozpin must have snuck them on us so we could stay." Raymond figured.

"Well that was nice of him." Isaac said.

"Alright, we've taken long enough, wake him up already." Sam ordered pointing at AJ, who was curled up in a ball in his bed.

"AJ! Wake up!" Raymond yelled, too excited to care about subtlety.

"Agh… fuck you…" AJ groaned from his rude awakening and sat up rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hurry up. Time for our first day at Beacon!" Raymond said excitedly.

"We have Port's class at the end of the day remember?" AJ pointed out.

"Is it really that bad?" Isaac asked.

"It can't be that bad, right?" Raymond asked.

"Well we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just figure out what our first class is and where it's at while I use the restroom." AJ said as he walked into the restroom.

After their first class, they had breakfast. They had gotten in line, gotten their food, and were now looking for a table to sit at.

"Let's just find our own table, like we did in the high school." AJ suggested as he looked for an empty table.

"Why not sit with RWBY and JNPR?" Raymond suggested. "Besides, Isaac wasn't there when we did that. Tyler was there instead."

"Oh yeah. But there is supposed to be a bit of a bond between those teams and we would just get in the way." AJ pointed out.

"Hey!" A voice shouted and all but AJ looked around to see who might be calling them. Raymond quickly found Ruby waving them over.

"Looks like Ruby is calling us over." Raymond said to AJ, getting his attention.

"Are you kidding me?" AJ asked, annoyed.

"Nope. Come on, we have to meet them eventually." Raymond said and AJ had no choice but to join them.

"Yang, remember these guys?" Ruby asked her sis as the boys approached them.

"Oh yeah! You were the guys that helped out Ruby! Thanks for that by the way!" Yang said to them.

"It was nothing, really." AJ said simply, still looking for an empty table.

"You guys need a place to sit?" Jaune asked them.

"Well we-" Sam started.

"Yep! I don't suppose you guys have room?" Raymond asked hopefully. AJ and Sam glared at him from both sides but he ignored them.

"Sure! Go ahead and sit down!" Yang said and SPWM took the far end of the table with RWBY following and then JNPR on the other side.

"So, you guys know my sis Ruby. I'm Yang."

"Blake." Blake said looking up from her book for just a moment.

Weiss simply huffed in annoyance. "That's Weiss." Ruby said for her partner.

"I'm Jaune!" Jaune said from the other side.

"Pyrrha."

"NORA! And this is Ren!" Nora said, pointing at Ren who nodded at them.

"Hello everyone! I'm Raymond!" He said excitedly. He sat at the very edge of the table on Yang and Ruby's side.

"Isaac." Isaac said. He sat across from Raymond.

"Sam." He said annoyed as he started to eat. He sat right next to Weiss.

"AJ, the guy who naturally looks like he hasn't slept in weeks because he gets maybe 5 hours of sleep." AJ said tiredly and put his head down between his arms. He sat between Yang and Raymond. He also managed to get a chuckle out of two or three people.

"He isn't normally like this." Raymond said pointing at his friend who covered his head with his cloak hood.

"Really? Great, so the first impression is wrong. Now I have to be open minded the next time!" Yang complained overdramatically.

And so everyone introduced themselves and got to know each other a bit, except Weiss who wouldn't speak, Blake who was more focused on her book, and AJ who was catching up on sleep. The one interesting thing that happened was Yang got curious and tried petting AJ while he was sleeping and he purred for a bit before looking up and, while blushing in embarrassment, glared at her silently so she stopped, but she didn't stop laughing. Eventually they left from the cafeteria to head to their next classes.

* * *

"It's that bad…" Raymond complained in his seat in Port's class. The other classes that day had been fine, meeting Oobleck had been… interesting… Goodwitch's class didn't have a spar for the first day, and now they were here…

"Despite smelling of cabbages…" Port continued his story that team SPWM drowned out as they talked quietly.

"What is with his moustache though? It's awesome!" Isaac commented.

"And now we'll have to deal with Weiss's fight with the Boarbatusk, and yelling at Ruby." AJ pointed out.

"Should we do something about that?" Isaac asked.

"Nope. It works out in the end." Raymond answered.

"Oh, so… don't fix what isn't broken?" Sam asked.

"Exactly." AJ answered.

"So, who believe themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port asked the class.

"I do sir!" Weiss answered angrily.

"Well then, let's find out! Step forward, and face your opponent!" Port said and pointed to the cage containing the Grimm.

"And here we go." AJ said quietly and sat up to watch.

Weiss went to get dressed in her proper gear before facing her opponent.

"Gooo Weiss!" Yang cheered.

"Fight well!" Blake said as she held a small flag that said RWBY on it.

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss scolded.

"Sorry…" Ruby said.

"Alright, let the match… begin!" Port shouted and chopped off the lock for the cage and the boar Grimm charged out of it.

Weiss jumped out of the way and sliced at it as it went by, quickly finding she couldn't break through the armor.

"Haha! Wasn't expecting _that_ were you!?" Port unnecessarily shouted in the background.

The Boarbatusk charged again and Weiss met it half way.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby shouted and distracted Weiss enough so that her weapon was caught by the tusks of the Grimm.

"Bold new approach! I like it!" Port commented.

"Show it who's boss!" Ruby encouraged.

Weiss turned to glare at her and lost her weapon because of it. The Grimm hit her with its tusks and knocked her back.

"Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port questioned.

Weiss dove out of the way of another charge and quickly grabbed her weapon.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss interrupted Ruby who hung her head down.

*Sigh* "It's even more aggravating in person…" AJ commented.

"She was like this in the show?" Isaac asked disbelievingly. AJ nodded.

The Boarbatusk started doing its roll attack at Weiss but ran into a glyph she had made. She made another glyph behind her and used it to launch herself at the Grimm and plunge her rapier into its belly.

"Bravo! Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a-"

"True huntress in training." AJ mimicked quietly while Port continued. "And now the bell rings." He said so only his team could hear. "Let's just head to our dorm now so I don't have to hear Weiss yell at Ruby." AJ said annoyed and left before any of his friends had a chance to agree or disagree.

"And then it ends with 'Be the best person you can be' and all that and eventually Weiss comes back late at night and basically says she's sorry." AJ said as they walked back into their dorm.

"Well, hopefully that is what happens this time." Sam says with a sigh.

"Well the fight scene with the Grimm was pretty much like canon." Raymond pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine. It's not like any of us would really help the situation." AJ said as he sat back down on his bed.

"So the school actually serves food after classes, like, it's pretty much dinner." Isaac mentioned.

"Oh really?" AJ asked looking up from his bed. "Was never mentioned in the show."

"Yeah. We had lunch like, two classes ago but now they serve for another two hours or so. It's the same stuff as lunch but I think that's dinner." Isaac explained.

"Well I guess one of you could bring me something if you want." AJ said and lied his head back down.

"It's not if we want, it's if _you_ want. You're the one that would go without food tonight." Raymond pointed out.

"Alright, fine. Bring me something then." AJ said dismissively.

"You don't want to come with? RWBY and JNPR are gonna be there." Sam said, figuring AJ and Raymond would be interested in seeing the characters from the show they liked, and wondering why AJ didn't seem so excited.

"Nah, just wake me up if you come back and I'm out." AJ said and rolled away from them.

They eventually came back and found he was still awake.

"You know, they asked where you were." Raymond said as he handed the tray of food to AJ.

"Really? Why?" AJ asked carelessly.

"Well, they _actually_ see us as friends already. They seem to actually care for us and even you despite you not saying anything to them." Raymond explained.

"Why? I'm not that special." AJ said casually with food in his mouth.

"I figured _you_ were the kind of person to say 'We're all special, guys!'" Raymond joked and AJ laughed a bit.

"Heh, I probably am. But I really don't see how I'm that special." AJ said simply.

"Well I'll tell you how special you are." Isaac started. "You know that girl Blake?" AJ nodded. "Well she was the one to ask about you." He said grinning. "And it looked like she didn't mean for the question to slip out. Maybe she likes you and was wondering where you were?" He asked while grinning.

"Heh, yeah right. She's always reading, she doesn't care." AJ said like it was a joke.

"I don't know… I think she liked you man, just saying." Isaac finished and went back to his bed.

"Sure, whatever." AJ waved him off.

That night he went up to the roof again and enjoyed the winds and the stars. It actually would end up becoming his routine, he would come up there every night because he couldn't sleep, and sometimes he would even practice swinging his weapon around at imaginary enemies. What he never noticed was Blake had taken to coming up every night as well, and without meaning to her routine became enjoying the breeze on the roof and watching AJ who was on a nearby roof.

* * *

Only a few days into the school year Ruby demanded to know what their weapons were and they agreed to show them off after classes. RWBY and JNPR had gotten a good look at each other's weapons during initiation, but not the all guy team's weapons.

Sam went up first.

He started right off by firing his shotguns into a group of bots and demolishing them. He then swapped to axe mode as he cut down the next few.

He dodged a swing for his head by ducking before cutting off the bot's leg and bringing the other blade down on its bland face.

He jumped over a low swing and kicked the bot back. He and the bot both swung their blades and their blades bounced off with sparks flying. His other axe quickly found its chest but it kept moving, getting a punch on him. While he was reeling the bot sliced him and he fell back. He quickly rolled out of the way and cut its arm off while it was reeling and with no weapon to protect itself he cut its head off.

He saw another three coming at him and he threw his left axe right into one's head. He switched his other axe to shotgun mode and took out one of the approaching bots while he ran and retrieved his thrown axe. He quickly switched the shotgun back to axe mode and used both axes to block the last bot's overhead sword strike. Sam jumped away from a kick and used his Semblance to create red water from his hand and blasted it out with such force that it went right through the bot's chest.

"I think that's enough for now." Sam said casually. He didn't really care for fighting but knew he had to in this world. He walked back to the others and Ruby went crazy over his weapons, meanwhile…

Isaac went up next.

He pulled out Silent Antagonist, his menacing looking, spiked war axe. He started off with and overhead swing that cut a bot right down the middle before it was close enough to hit him.

He turned to his right to see a bot already mid swing and he blocked it with the shaft of his weapon before jumping away from it to get a good distance to swing. The bot kept rushing him and not giving him the benefit of distance.

He eventually realized he wasn't going to get away from it so he used the shaft of his weapon again to block the strike, then mecha-shifted his weapon to rifle mode and fired point blank into its head. He turned and shot another few bots before they even got close, then three finally got close enough and he went back to war axe mode.

He twirled the weapon above his head to get them to back up, he abruptly stopped the spin and swung downward on one bot like when he had started, but this one actually put its sword up to block the blade. It was pushing as hard as it could against Isaac but Isaac was pushing harder, so the other two bots charged to help.

Isaac's Aura took the first hit before he jumped back and out of their attacks, they both continued the charge and he continued to back up and parry attacks with his large weapon. Unfortunately he left himself open and was hit a few times before he grew frustrated and used his Semblance.

His brown eyes turned light blue and he punched the ground with this right hand shooting blue flame out and forcing the two bots back, then the third finally joined back into the fight. Isaac channeled his Semblance into his weapon shown by blue flame that came out of the blade. He did another twirl above his head and this time used it for a horizontal swing, the bots all put up their swords to block it but the fire allowed the war axe to go right through their blades and he took out all three with the one swing.

He simply grinned and slowed his breathing for a moment before heading back to the others and facing Ruby's weapon nerdyness.

"I don't actually have a weapon, I have my Semblance. Let me show you." Raymond said confidently and walked out.

Raymond simply stood still adjusting his trench coat while the bots slowly approached him, when they got within a few meters he suddenly waved his arms and a bunch of purple sickles cut the closest ones into pieces.

The bots now took action and charged him, so he created a sword and held it in his right hand.

He leaned out of the first vertical swing and blasted it away with his free left hand. He swung out at the one on his right and it blocked his attack. He quickly jumped back before the bot on his right could take advantage of it. He used both hands to create a war hammer and used it to smash them both before creating a wall to block an attack from behind and bringing out his right sword again.

He let the wall fall and swung diagonally at the bot which parried and countered with a lunge. Raymond jumped to the side and stabbed it quickly before it tried to swing at him and he jumped just out of range. It jumped at him with a vertical swing and he created a small shield on his left arm to block it before swinging out horizontally, to which the bot jumped away.

'This one is smarter, I guess some must be on higher settings than others.' Raymond thought.

He realized one was sneaking up on his left and he put his hand out towards the bot in a palm strike and a purple spike shot out and met the bot's head. The other bot used this chance to get close and jumped again, but Raymond simply leaned to the side leaving the bot open and cut it in half horizontally.

He turned around quickly and raised his shield to block the blade he heard moving behind him, the blade was dark brown. He looked through his shield and saw AJ smiling at him competitively.

"I figured I should show what I can do, against you." AJ said, pushing harder.

"Alright then!" Raymond agreed and attacked with his sword in a horizontal swing.

AJ simply used his right sword to block the swing to his left before turning the sword and holding it reverse to lunge at Raymond's chest. Raymond took a step back to stay out of range and removed the shield on his left arm. AJ turned the sword back to the way you normally hold it, but as he did that it had mecha-shifted to the rifle form and he fired once, hitting Raymond in the shoulder.

Raymond took the initiative and jumped forward, swinging vertically, AJ leaned to the right and dodged it before swinging horizontally at Raymond's chest. Raymond leaned back before firing a purple energy blast from his left hand.

AJ didn't dodge fast enough and took the hit, just barely keeping himself from being knocked down by it. He pulled out the pistol and fired it left handed.

Raymond quickly created a small floating shield with his left hand before removing it to lunge forward.

AJ turned the pistol into a small shield to block the lunge, he suddenly spun to his right, turning the shield into another one-handed sword that just missed Raymond's face by an inch because he leaned back. AJ continued the spin and brought his right sword around using the spin for momentum and swinging horizontally left to right. Raymond leaned back again, thinking the attacks were done he leaned forward to use another energy blast from his left hand. AJ had turned the left sword back to pistol form and fired it from the hip as his 360 came to an end. The shot got Raymond right in the gut and he bent over from the hit. AJ brought the right sword back to his side and put it back in rifle form and fired point blank, then while using the lever action to turn his rifle into a hatchet, he turned his pistol, which was high above his head with some help from recoil, back into shield form and brought it down to smack Raymond in the head with it. Then used the hatchet to trip Raymond and put one foot on his chest, pointing his shield-now-pistol at his friend's face.

"Heh… why should I stop now? I still have Aura." Raymond commented, smiling despite the pain he felt in quite a few places.

"Because when your opponent puts you in a position like this it's considered a 'win' for them." AJ said, grinning. Raymond chuckled and AJ raised an eyebrow before looking around and seeing Raymond wasn't putting his hands up in surrender, no there were large floating spikes around AJ poised to take him out.

"Why don't we… call it a draw?" Raymond said slowly as he was still breathing a bit heavily.

AJ chuckled. "Sure." Before helping his friend up and the spikes disappeared.

"That… was… awesome! What kind of weapon is that!? I've never seen it before! Can I hold it!?" Ruby was talking a mile a minute and it made AJ take a step back from the girl.

"Calm down sis." Yang said, grabbing Ruby before she could lunge AJ for his weapon.

"That was pretty cool fight guys!" Isaac commented.

"You ok Raymond?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Aura, man, it makes everything better." Raymond said, grinning while clutching his side.

"My weapons can turn into a few different things, not gonna say what though, you'll just have to find out later." AJ teased, grinning, while he set his pistol back in its holster and putting his rifle on his back where it belongs.

"And I just have my Semblance make whatever I want." Raymond explained.

Various comments were made on how cool everyone's weapons were and such before everyone went their separate ways for the day.

* * *

"Alright, it's been like, four weeks already! When are Cardin and Jaune gonna have their match?" AJ asked quietly as they walked to Glynda's dueling class.

It had been a few weeks, they had all started to get used to being in the world and the school's schedule. Sam was still irate about being here but he was doing better, AJ and Raymond still hadn't gotten over how cool everything was, Isaac was doing perfectly fine with few complaints.

"Hopefully canon continues soon so we can get on with it!" Raymond said.

"Yeah, we thought it was a long time waiting for the next episode, try actually going through the actual time between each episode in the world!" AJ complained.

After going over this every day for the past two weeks, today was finally the day that something canon happened!

Jaune took a breather before charging Cardin with a war cry, but Cardin easily dodged it and knocked him down with his mace. Jaune stood up again, this time with only his sword, and charged with another war cry. Cardin blocked it and began pushing Jaune down.

"This is the part, where you lose." Cardin said.

"Over my dead-" Jaune was interrupted by a knee to the gut.

Cardin wielded his mace over his head, preparing to hit Jaune while he was down, when a buzzer sounded and the lights came back on.

"Cardin, that's enough." Glynda said calmly. She walked up to the edge of the stage to address the class.

"Students, as you can see. Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Glynda explained. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more… defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you getting gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself." Cardin said before walking off the stage.

"Remember everyone! The Vytal festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms begin arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." Glynda explained when the bell rang and everyone began leaving the amphitheater.

"It never gets old seeing canon happen right before me." AJ commented as they started to leave.

"No kidding." Raymond agreed.

"So, there we were, in the middle, of the night." Nora began.

"It was day." Ren calmly corrected.

"We were surrounded by Usai."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down! Making a boatload of lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished proudly.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren explained.

"This is canon?" Isaac asked Raymond quietly from across the table.

"Yep." Raymond said nodding.

"Jaune? Are you ok?" Pyrrha asked.

"…Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?" Jaune asked, clearly distracted.

"It's just that… you seem a little… not, ok…" Ruby explained hesitantly.

Jaune notices everyone is staring at him now. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look! Hehe…" He said as he threw up a thumbs up and a lame smile.

Everyone turned to the sound of laughter and noticed Cardin and his team picking on Velvet, a rabbit Faunus girl. AJ disliked it in the show, but seeing it in front of him was different… and he didn't like it…

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha mentioned.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah! He just liked to mess around, you know! Practical jokes!" Jaune defended lamely.

"He's a bully." Ruby pointed out.

"And you know it, Jaune." AJ added.

"Oh please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune requested and got three quick answers.

"I didn't land that far from the school!" Jaune defended.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask!" Pyrrha said.

""We'll break his legs!"" AJ and Nora both shouted and stood up, Raymond and Ren both set them back down.

"Guys! Really! It's. Fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me! He's a jerk to everyone." Jaune said standing up and leaving with his food tray.

"Ow! That hurts!" Velvet cried out as her rabbit ears were pulled on by Cardin who laughed along with his friends.

"See! They are real!"

"What a freak!"

"Haha!"

"Nope! Not standing for it!" AJ said simply as he suddenly stood up and began walking down the rows of tables. 'This is one part of canon I don't mind changing.'

"AJ! Stop!" Raymond shouted and put a purple pillar in AJ's way. AJ smoothly spun around it, not losing momentum.

"Just let him, Raymond." Sam said.

"Yeah, the guy deserves it." Isaac agreed.

"I know but he can't do this right now!" Raymond said as he tried blocking AJ with another pillar and he spun around it again.

"I'm not standing for it… I'm not standing for it… I. Will. Not… STAND FOR IT!" AJ shouted and punched Cardin in the face and knocked him flat.

Dead silence throughout the cafeteria.

"Oh, I see the animals take care of each other." Cardin commented, smiling.

AJ scoffed. "Just back off, you idiot!"

Cardin's teammates went to surround AJ, who showed his claws, making them back off a step.

"Get out of here… _now_." AJ demanded and growled at them. He didn't notice his yellow Aura begin glowing on his hands and sparking slightly. Cardin's teammates backed off from this but Cardin was willing to stand tall.

"Why should I? An animal like you can't do anything to me!" Cardin said with a cocky tone.

"Oh really?" AJ asked tilting his head slightly. " _Wanna test that!?_ " He growled evilly and now sparks were actively coming from his claws and his bright green and gold eyes had turned yellow and were faintly glowing.

Cardin took a defiant and stupid step forward, he met the floor real quick, so did AJ as they had both been stopped by Glynda.

"Both of you! My office! Now!" Glynda demanded. AJ tried his hardest to not vent his new energy on her and calmed down slightly.

"So? What happened?" What remained of teams SPWM and JNPR along with all of RWBY, asked when AJ came back.

"She let me off with a warning since I was defending Velvet, but she didn't say what she did with Cardin." AJ said, still irate about everything.

The bell rang then signaling them to go to their next class.

"Hey, can I talk with you for a minute?" Blake asked AJ while they were heading to their next class.

"Yes?" AJ asked as they took some distance from the others.

"What happened? I get that you were angry, but I thought you said that stuff didn't anger you." Blake asked.

"To me? I don't care! To others? Fuck that! I'm stopping that jerk!" AJ explained angrily.

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Because I'm used to it, and I don't care if people do it to me. If people do it to others I'm going to stop them!"

"That doesn't explain why you seem to put others before yourself." Blake said.

"What's wrong with that!? They are the ones that don't deserve anything like that, the ones that should have someone help them!"

"And you don't deserve that? With such a selfless idea as that, you don't deserve help?" She asked.

"I don't need it! Or want it!" He said strongly.

"You didn't strike me as one of those people that would put himself down." Blake commented.

"I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone's help!" AJ said before walking away.

"Well… clearly you do…" Blake said to herself before going to catch up with them.

* * *

Blake found it hard to focus in Ooblecks class for one reason… AJ wasn't focusing.

She had, for some reason unknown to her, been looking at AJ when he was around, and when you do that you tend to learn about that person. She found herself thinking she knew more about him than even Raymond seemed to know but she didn't know why she was proud about something like that… anyway. She had noticed he seemed to like History, he always focused in history class, never answered any questions willingly, but she could tell he was shy so that wasn't a surprise, he also would even tell his friends to be quiet when Doctor Oobleck was speaking, so the fact that he seemed frustrated and uncaring now made her feel bad about her talk with him earlier.

She wanted to help him, cheer him up, but he made it clear he didn't want help. Maybe because he was shy and he didn't want her attention on him? The way he seemed to make others seem more important than him, he might think he isn't worth her time, and she couldn't stand that he might actually think that.

How do you help someone that doesn't want help? The obvious idea that came to mind first was force her way in, become a friend and talk to him. Friend… That raised another thought, maybe ask his friends for help, or to do it themselves? They seemed to all share some sort of secret though, they avoid parts of their pasts, and all that left her unsure if they would be willing to talk about his past and help her help him. She wanted to know why he would act like that though… Maybe she really should just bring it up to them, let them handle it…

With some form of a plan in mind Blake went back to focusing on the class, especially since a question was being asked.

"Who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over the General's forces in Fort Castle?" Oobleck asked.

"Hey!" Jaune complained.

"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class I see! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" Oobleck asked.

"The advantage… the Faunus… had… over that guys stuff." Jaune said to himself and Blake noticed Pyrrha making motions trying to give him the answer. "Binoculars!" Jaune said and the class laughed.

"Very funny, Mr. Arc!" Oobleck said unamused. "Cardin! Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject?"

"Here we go…" AJ said sighing.

"Well I know it's a lot easier to train an animal, than a soldier." Cardin commented.

"You aren't the most open-minded of individuals, are you Cardin?" Pyrrha asked with just a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

"What? You got a problem?" Cardin asked as if he was threatening.

"No, I have the answer, it's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have near perfect sight in the dark." Pyrrha said.

"Excellent! Mr. Raymond! You don't contribute to class much, why don't you elaborate on how night vision led to the General's defeat?" Oobleck suddenly asked.

"Oh! Um… Sure!" Raymond said suddenly feeling like everyone was watching him, and _absolutely_ caught off guard by the break in canon!

"The General thought he could ambush the Faunus in their sleep, so he snuck in at night and the fight quickly turned away from his favor and he was captured." Raymond prayed he didn't stutter and any point. AJ suddenly smiled. "Perhaps if he had paid attention in class he would have remembered something like that, and not have been remembered as such a failure." He commented and very obviously looked at Cardin, who was on the other side of the class room, causing him to stand up in anger.

"Mr. Winchester, please find your seat." Oobleck said and Jaune laughed. "You AND Mr. Arc will stay after class for additional readings."

"Aww…" Jaune said.

"Moving on!" Oobleck stated before dashing off to another part of the class.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" Raymond asked.

"Yep!" AJ whispered smiling and giving a thumbs up. "That face? When you are the one that caused it? So worth it!"

Eventually class ended and they all filled out except for Cardin and Jaune.

"Heh, you know? I'm feeling pretty good right now! Gonna head to the library and find something funny to read. See you guys tomorrow!" AJ said, leaving his friends to simply head to their dorm without a member.

Blake saw her chance to do something about AJ.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Blake asked Raymond, Sam, and Isaac.

"Oh! Sure! What do you need?" Raymond asked while the others turned to watch.

"Look, AJ looks happy now, but he was pretty angry at the start of the class. Can you tell me why?" Blake asked.

"Why do you ask?" Isaac asked smiling in a way that Blake was used to seeing on Yang and immediately didn't trust.

"I'm just curious." Blake said smoothly.

"He already explained that he doesn't like stupidity, racism is really stupid to him." Raymond explained.

"That doesn't explain why he reacted so violently. He never got that angry when Cardin antagonized him, he just calmly told Cardin to leave or shrugged him off. He never went straight to violence like that, not even a threat first." Blake pointed out.

"I don't know, I guess he just doesn't like it when it happens to others." Raymond said shrugging.

Blake wasn't sure if he was being vague or if he actually didn't know, and if he didn't know than what was she going to do!?

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Blake said and turned to leave… to the library. 'He just told me what AJ already said! This is actually really frustrating!'

She went to the library, found AJ still looking around for books, so she sat down at a nearby table. AJ noticed her presence, she knew because of one of his cat ears twitched, and when he found a book he took to a separate table away from her.

She noticed he would glance up at her every once and a while, clearly he was too shy to ever come over, so she moved over to his table and sat down without a word. She could tell he wondered why she had done that but was trying to ignore her. He had stopped laughing from the book he was reading though and was clearly a little tense.

"Hey." Blake finally spoke up after some time.

"Yeah?" AJ asked not looking from his book.

"I'm sorry for making you angry earlier." Blake said.

"I wasn't angry at you." AJ said, glancing at her for a moment.

"You know, you could talk to us if you ever needed help." Blake suggested with an unusually soft voice.

"Which I don't." AJ responded.

"You do, you just don't want it." Blake corrected.

"You aren't wrong." AJ said simply.

"Can you please look at me when you talk to me?" Blake asked. AJ reluctantly looked up at her.

There was a long pause where they were both just staring at each other.

"Why don't you look anyone in the eyes when you talk to them?" Blake asked suddenly.

"What?" AJ feigned ignorance.

"You don't look at anyone in the eyes for long when you talk to them, not even your own team. You look at other things, like a book, or your food, or the class. If you ever have an actual long conversation with someone you only look at them briefly before looking at other things." Blake explained.

AJ remained silent and looked back at his book which he set down, trying to think of a reason.

"I just…" He stopped when Blake grabbed him by the chin and turned him to look at her again. They both blushed slightly.

"Please… please look at me when you talk." Blake asked, more like pleaded, and it kind of confused AJ.

"Sorry." AJ said truthfully, his Faunus ears hanging down.

"And that too! You say sorry for everything, like you've done something seriously wrong." Blake pointed out.

"Is that a bad thing?" AJ asked trying to defend himself.

"I didn't say it was. I'm just pointing out what I've noticed with you. For the simplest requests that we say no to or that we don't have time for, you say sorry in a way that is borderline overdramatic." Blake explained.

"I just feel like I was a bother and I feel bad about it." AJ said looking down slightly before Blake forced him to look back at her again, both of them blushing slightly more.

"You aren't a bother, stop putting yourself down." Blake requested.

They zoned out and just stared at each other for a few seconds before Blake blushed and looked away from him.

"Blake?" AJ asked, blushing as well.

"Yeah?..." Blake asked, suddenly the one that couldn't look _him_ in the eyes.

"If it means anything… I'm sorry for acting the way I was… It doesn't change my beliefs, but I'm sorry." AJ said.

"Ok… I guess I feel a little bit better now. You just don't seem to think very highly of yourself, and for some reason I wanted to fix that." 'And I'm not gonna stop trying.' Blake thought.

They both took their books and went back to their own dorms at that point. It would end up being their new thing to do after classes, find a table to sit at and read books, rarely saying anything, just the presence of the other person being enough comfort for them.

Blake was glad to have befriended him and was hoping someday to get him to stop putting himself down, but she kept reminding herself to be patient.

* * *

There were two things often talked about now at the table, how AJ and Blake were always going to the library after classes and they all wondered what happened there. Yang had tried to find out but being that they were both Faunus they could hear Yang coming and would glare at her when she came around so spy on them, saying she would be loud and bothersome for them while they were trying to read so she would leave. She saw nothing, but assumed there was more than what she saw.

The other thing that they talked about, or used to, was Jaune always hanging around Cardin now. Pyrrha didn't seem to like talking about it so they went back to talking about the possible couple they might have soon and Yang had taken to tease them whenever she could.

"So, anything happen in the library?" Yang would ask.

"No." AJ and Blake would answer. They had grown bored of Yang's constant teasing and it didn't even make them blush anymore, unless Yang got more suggestive. Otherwise it was just plain annoying for them.

"So, I know what to expect from Yang asking, so I am gonna ask you now, in our room, where Yang and the other's aren't here." Raymond said as he had a very rare moment of seriousness.

"Ok, what then?" AJ asked.

"Are you and Blake going out at all?" Raymond asked.

AJ sighed, annoyed. "No, we aren't. We are just becoming friends lately. Not like anything more would ever happen…" He mumbled the last part.

"Good, cause something like that would make it more difficult to go back to Earth." Raymond said.

"It ain't gonna happen on Earth, it ain't gonna happen on Remnant." AJ said, depressed.

"Hey, don't be like that." Raymond said putting a reassuring hand on AJ's shoulder.

"Look, don't worry. It won't happen so you have nothing to worry about. I'm just worried how Ozpin is going to get us back if _we_ don't even know how we got here." AJ pointed out.

"I think he'll figure it out. Ozpin seems like someone who can manage something like that." Raymond said confidently.

"Hopefully." AJ said.

And suddenly, after two weeks of bonding with AJ, he suddenly stopped coming to the library. Blake started looking for him and found him cutting down bots in the training rooms. She wanted to know what was wrong but he suddenly seemed very angry and wouldn't answer her.

Day after day she would find him taking his anger out on the training bots and she hated that he seemed so angry now. Just when she thought she was getting to him, something happened and now he won't talk to her.

He sliced a bot in half vertically, before taking off the head of another. Then he tackled one down and stabbed its 'face' with a dagger, then he stood up and cut off both the arms of another bot before taking his pistol and shooting it in the face like it was some execution. He put a lot of force into every swing and she decided to just leave him to vent each time. Even though the fact that he needed to vent everyday meant it wasn't actually helping.

Eventually the field trip to Forever Fall happened and as she walked with her team she noticed him, along with everyone else, gazing in awe at the red trees.

"Yes students the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but, we are not here to sightsee." Glynda said as she walked at the front of the group.

Both Raymond and AJ had the same thought, the show doesn't truly show how beautiful this place really is. Then again, the show looks like an anime but here everything looks like real life. Actually, it would have been weird if everything looked like it did in the show… especially seeing each other as anime characters… that would be really weird. Ruby still had her anime like cuteness regardless.

"Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda said before stopping and turning around.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap, however, this forest is filled with the creatures of Grimm, so stick close to your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock, have fun!" Glynda finished.

"Come on buddy! Let's go." Cardin said and grabbed Jaune.

Raymond, AJ, and Pyrrha all sighed before moving on.

"So, we're just supposed to collect this sap?" Sam asked, confused.

"That _is_ what Glynda said to do." AJ said, annoyed. 'Like really, that's just a stupid question!'

Blake glanced over at AJ occasionally, she had taken to really caring about his wellbeing and was concerned about how AJ was starting to get over the looks of the forest and was getting irritated again. While everyone was distracted doing their job, she noticed AJ walk off on his own, so she followed him.

He just seemed to be making himself angrier, mumbling and punching the air in frustration. She couldn't stand it for some reason and finally approached him.

"Whatever you are doing, you are just making yourself angrier, so stop!" Blake said, concerned.

"It's hard to ignore something that will follow you for the rest of your life!" AJ replied angrily.

"Please AJ, I know you don't want it but please, just talk to me and let me help you." Blake requested.

"I can't talk to you about it, I'm sorry." AJ said turning away from her.

"No, look at me when you talk to me." Blake demanded and grabbed him, turning him around. "Why can't you?"

"It's not important." AJ said simply.

"Don't _give_ me that!" Blake shouted and shoved him. "You are important to me and I can't stand seeing you like this! Tell me!" Blake pleaded.

"…What?" AJ asked, astonished.

"What?" Blake asked confused.

"What you just said." AJ answered.

"Wha-" Blake stopped, realizing what she just said and blushed. "Look! Just tell me why you-"

"Everything ok? I heard yelling." Yang asked as she parted a few bushes and saw Blake and AJ. "Oh! Uh… bad time?" She teased and left.

AJ growled in annoyance before walking back to the others, away from her. "You wouldn't get it." He said as he left.

"But… I think I do… And I think I know exactly what the problem is…" Blake said to herself before following him.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Someone yelled before Yang could tease the two.

"What!? Where!?" Yang asked.

"Back there! It's got Cardin!" The student who AJ realized was the mohawk guy on Cardin's team, yelled, pointing where he came from. 'He didn't get grabbed by Yang this time, oh well. Not important.'

"Jaune!" Pyrrha realized.

"Yang, Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby ordered.

"Ren, Nora, go with them! And be careful, there could be more!" Pyrrha warned.

"Team SPWM will save the day!" Raymond shouted as Isaac and Sam prepared their weapons.

"YEAAH!" AJ shouted holding his rifle above his head. 'Kind of silly seeing as we aren't gonna do anything.'

They ran and got there just in time to see Jaune defend Cardin from a killing blow with his shield. The Ursa Major towering over them.

"Wait." Pyrrha, Raymond, and AJ all said to the others.

"I wanna see him pull this off." AJ said, smiling, even though he already knew the result.

Jaune slashed at the Grimm, making it stagger back, before clawing at Jaune. Jaune dove to the left to dodge, before jumping to dodge the sweeping slash, leaving him open to by hit in mid-air. He landed in a roll and jumped at the Ursa. It hit him while he was still in the air (Like Ryan) and sent him flying past.

He got up again and looked at his Scroll to see his Aura was in the red, the Ursa stopped before him. They both charged each other and that was went Pyrrha used her Semblance to make sure Jaune's shield blocked the strike leaving the Grimm open for decapitation.

"Whoa!" Isaac commented catching what happened.

"Um… what?" Ruby was confused.

"How did you?" So was Weiss.

"Well, you guys have elements and purple energy, Ruby has speed, and you, Weiss, have your glyphs, my Semblance is polarity." Pyrrha stated.

"Whoa, you can control poles." Ruby said in awe and the team from Earth laughed.

"No you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss corrected.

"Magnets are cool too…" Ruby said to herself.

"Hey, isn't this the first time Semblances are mentioned in canon?" AJ asked.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that!" Raymond realized.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked Pyrrha and team SPWM.

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby agreed.

"We could… or perhaps, we could keep it our little secret!" Pyrrha suggested.

"I'm fine with that! Sure!" AJ said.

"Yeah." Raymond said, nodding.

"If you say so." Sam said.

"Alright." Isaac agreed.

And so they went back to find Glynda, made up some lie about how everything went fine, and headed back to the school.

* * *

A few days later, there had still been no improvement between Blake and AJ and it was tension that everyone else noticed now.

After classes AJ and Blake had started walking towards the library again and Blake hoped maybe AJ was going to cheer up and talk to her.

He didn't.

It seemed like something was eating at him, and she wouldn't know until after their reading time when they were about to go their separate ways to their dorms.

"Blake, I'm just gonna get this over with… do you like me as more than a friend or not?" He asked simply, he tried his hardest not to hold onto hope.

"W-What?" Blake was too surprised by this sudden question to answer.

"It's simple, do you like me as more than a friend or not?"

"I… um… well… I don't… w-what about you? Do you… like me that way?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"I'm certain." He said, leaning towards her. "And I always make sure that I am never certain because I could always be wrong."

"Then how do you know?" Blake asked.

"Because I find myself drawn to you. My eyes are drawn to you, I want to be around you, it's hard to look away from you. That's why I don't look you in the eyes more than anyone else, because your eyes are so beautiful. Everything about you I find beautiful, your face, your hair, your voice, your laugh which I have only heard once, your smile, your very presence, everything. I have never been so sure of anything in my life, I am in love with you, no doubt about it." He said, smiling. "So please, just get it over with and tell me if you do or not so we can be together or I can just drop it." He said, gaining a serious face again.

Never had someone looked so conflicted in all of Earth and Remnant's history. AJ couldn't help but wonder why she was so conflicted, what could make her want to say yes if she doesn't or no when she does? What could be making it so difficult?

It certainly was probably the hardest decision Blake had ever made. She knew what she wanted, and what she felt needed be said, there's just one problem:

They weren't the same thing.

And so… she made her decision…

"I'm sorry… But I don't think I like you that way…"

* * *

 **Not really much of a cliffhanger when I'm rolling out chapters daily, huh? Meh, when I originally posted this I posted weekly, so it was more of a cliffhanger back then at least. Can't say I'm not going a different route with the romance this time though!**

 **Anyway, if you're enjoying this, you should follow or fav if you haven't already.**

 **Have a great day!**


	13. Team SPWM Ch3

**I feel that this is obvious but I haven't said it yet so… For everyone that has already read these fics, don't say anything in a review that would spoil it for those who are reading this for the first time. The last review that was posted made me think about that so I just thought I should point that out. Spoilers are a no no.**

 **Anyway, on with the story! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own RWBY or anything else I may use or reference such as music and video games.**

" _There's a moment that changes a life when…"_

Key:

"Speech"

'Thought' OC thought unless it says otherwise.

* * *

Team S.P.W.M. Ch.3

* * *

"Ok."

"What?" Blake asked, confused and sad.

"It's better you just tell the truth, thank you, goodbye." AJ said emotionlessly and walked away.

The way he said that brought her to tears. "No AJ I-" It was too late and he was already walking away from her. She ran back to her dorm crying.

'Poor thing, she really feels bad about doing that to me huh? Well someone will be lucky enough to have her someday…'

"What!?" Yang shouted when Blake explained what happened. "Why?!"

"I… I-I can't tell y-you why." Blake said still crying.

"Why? What the heck made you tell him no after what he said!?" Yang demanded to know, luckily Ruby and Weiss weren't there. Weiss had taken Ruby to the library to study.

Blake took a minute to calm down and now that she only occasionally sniffled she answered.

"I can't tell you. I know something about them that I shouldn't and it is the reason I said no." Blake explained. She wouldn't look Yang in the eyes with the glare she was giving her.

"That's stupid! You two were getting along well, I thought you two would be happy! That's all that should matter, that you both are happy in the end! Forget whatever you know! Tell him how you really feel!" Yang demanded before picking Blake up and shoving her back out of the dorm.

Blake eventually found AJ in the training room. The bots were surrounding him but they weren't attacking. AJ stood in the middle and just stared at the ground.

He had just been standing there the whole time, holding in his emotions like he had always done… then a tear slipped out, and he wanted to scold himself. 'No point in crying about it', but you don't just keep emotion like that in.

And so he stood there sobbing as tears flowed out, he tried to calm down but couldn't.

"Why… is it always me?..." He whispered to no one as his emotions kept coming out.

" _Why_ … is it always… me, that suffers?..." But it wasn't just what he held in now that came out…

"Why?"

"Why?"

Everything he had held in his whole life came out.

" **WHY!?** "

And his Aura exploded out of him in a lightshow of yellow electricity.

He finally looked back up at the bots, glaring as lightning kept flying out of him, the air forcing the bots to back up. His eyes were yellow and glowing brightly. His cloak, his hair even, his clothes, all turned yellow.

He suddenly appeared near a few in front of him and cut them down with his claws before they could even see him move, lighting flowing out of every part of him.

He pulled out his rifle in a flash of speed and the brown parts of the weapon had turned yellow as well.

He pulled the trigger and a bolt of lightning came out and took out a bot. At this point the bots now charged him.

He shot 10 more before turning his weapon into a war axe, the weapon now covered in electricity. He swung it around and took out another three before getting sliced in the back. He grunted and stumbled slightly before turning around and giving a terrifying glare to the bot and using his right hand to fire electricity into it, destroying it.

He turned the weapon into a one handed sword and pulled out the pistol, which had also turned yellow. It fired bolts of electricity through a few before he was hit again and collapsed. The bots stopped attacking as he had drained all his Aura into the red.

His clothes, hair, eyes, weapons, cloak, all turned back to normal and Blake ran out to make sure he was ok.

He glared at her before standing up and putting his hand out towards another bot weakly. His yellow Aura appeared in his hand before fizzling away and he simply grew more angry, he wasn't done venting yet. He fell down again, unable to stand at the moment.

"Please! AJ, stop! I'm sorry! I lied!" Blake said clinging to him desperately, wanting him to stop being angry. Now she truly understood why she cared so much about his wellbeing.

"What?" AJ asked anger fading away quickly at what he just thought he heard.

"I lied! I do love you! I'm so sorry!" Blake shouted and clung to him, starting to cry into his chest.

AJ froze for a moment before hugging her, trying to get her to stop crying, and he was trying not to pass out as well.

"Explain." Was the only thing he could think to say.

"I wasn't sure if I liked you or not, I didn't really know what it felt like. But the way you described how you felt about me, that is exactly how I feel about you." Blake said when she stopped crying.

AJ carefully wiped away her tears and held her.

"Why did you lie then?" AJ asked, curious. He could feel his tiredness just fading away with her near. He needed to hear this and nothing would stop that.

"I… heard you talking about… Earth…" Blake said and noticed how his body grew tense but didn't take away the comfort she felt being held by him.

"I realized you and Raymond said Earth and Remnant like they were two separate things, so I came to the strange conclusion that must be from somewhere else, and that you must be trying to get home, to go back to your friends and family… I couldn't keep you from them." Blake explained.

"I would leave them all for you." He suddenly said, hugging her tighter.

"What? Why?" Blake asked, confused.

"I will leave them all to be with you if it works out between us. You must have heard me say that I would never be in love? That's why I will leave all that for love, maybe that's stupid, but I don't care." AJ explained tearing up and holding her tightly.

"You really want love that badly?" Blake asked, looking up at him. He simply nodded and they stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds.

"I love you!" Blake said suddenly, smiling.

"I love you too!" AJ said, smiling, and hugged her again.

"Oh… problem." AJ said, worried.

"Hmm?" Blake asked not really caring, too busy cuddling.

"Raymond said he doesn't want this." AJ pointed out. "So it isn't a difficult decision to leave."

"Well I think you already made that decision." Blake said, taking her face out of his chest again and looking up at him, still smiling despite the more serious look AJ had. "Would you really be willing to leave your life behind for me? Because I would never force you to do that." She said and he shook his head.

"I insist. I will stay here if things work out." He said smiling.

The thought that he would really do that for her made her feel good, really good. If he really was willing to do that he must really like her, and she found herself loving the idea of him staying.

"We should probably stand up and leave the training room." She pointed out.

"Yeah. But… I'm thinking for now we should keep this a secret from Raymond. So just, act like just a friend around him, ok?" AJ requested.

"Ok…" Blake said sadly, her ears going flat despite the bow making them hard to move.

AJ felt bad about that but noticed something else. "That raises another problem." AJ said pointing at her ears.

"What?" She asked, tilting her head cutely.

"Either we deal with getting picked on for being a Faunus and 'human' going out or you take off your bow." AJ pointed out and Blake's eyes went wide.

"I… I don't know if I can do that… Do you mind if I kept it on?" Blake asked hopefully.

"If you kept it on, I would prefer something like this." AJ said before taking the bow off, and moving it to just above her left ear, in a smaller form so it fit the area. "That is too damn cute! I don't think I can stand having it any other way."

Blake sighed. "Ok, just… give me a week or two, ok? I need to get ready for this…" She said and put her bow back over her ears.

"Ok. Just know that no one in RWBY, JNPR, or SPWM will hate you for it." AJ said reassuringly.

"Even Weiss?" Blake asked, unsure.

AJ's eyes went wide, remembering canon. "Hmm… that could be a problem… take your time to think how you will go about it." He suggested, now hoping she takes too much time and canon continues. Now he really was worried what would happen if he messed with canon… he wouldn't know what to do then… "You know what? If you don't want to take off the bow, that's fine. I can certainly deal with what the other students will say." AJ said, hoping Blake would listen.

"No, I like the way you looked at me with the bow like that…" She stated, blushing. "I'll take off the bow in two weeks, I promise." Blake said as they finally left the training room.

AJ was both happy and worried about this.

"You might as well know now, the real reason I wanted you to look at me when you talked to me is because you have really pretty eyes." Blake said, looking up at him before kissing him on the cheek and walking away. She swung her hips more than usual as she left, leaving the boy stunned and blushing a color resembling Ruby's cloak.

"Where were you?" Raymond asked AJ when he came back.

Luckily AJ had planned for this.

"Blake just turned me down, so fuck off will ya?" AJ asked rudely and fell in his bed.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Raymond asked. "It won't be so hard to leave when we do."

"I know, but it still hurts, ok!?" AJ growled at him.

Raymond realized he should back off and leave his hurting friend.

"Is it really that important that he doesn't have a girlfriend?" Isaac asked.

"In any other scenario I would happily help him find a girl, but now? We have family and friends to come back too! That's why we're going back, remember? We stay alive and go through this so we can go back to them." Raymond explained. "What if AJ had a girlfriend here? It would be really hard to leave, I don't want him to have to make that decision. Besides, he has family to go back too, and I wouldn't have as much fun online if he wasn't there to kick butt with me!" Raymond said, smiling.

"Maybe Ozpin finds some sort of artifact that can connect our worlds?" Isaac suggested hopefully.

"And if it doesn't? If it only sends us back to Earth and then… breaks, or whatever?" Raymond asked, making Isaac stop asking questions. "I just don't want him to have to make a really hard decision."

"He's got a point." Sam spoke up, looking at Isaac.

AJ heard this and turned to face the wall. He wasn't going to change his mind, it was too late for that. 'Decision has been made.'

* * *

AJ had also planned for when he and Blake would seem like good friends at breakfast and lunch, etc.

"I got over it. No hard feelings." AJ said smoothly.

"After how you were acting last night?" Isaac questioned.

"I bounce back, ok?" AJ replied.

"Well, as long as you are feeling better. I hated seeing you so pissed off the last however many weeks it's been." Raymond said, smiling comfortably.

"Where did Yang go?" Ruby asked noticing her older sister was gone.

"I think she said she was going to do something at the library." Blake mentioned.

"Yang? At the library?" Weiss asked not believing for a second Yang would read a book.

"Hey! Don't be like that!" Ruby said, defending her sis. "She's very smart!"

"She sure has a way of showing it." Weiss commented rudely.

"Geez, _someone_ doesn't like Yang's teasing." AJ noted to which Raymond chuckled.

They actually didn't see her till after dinner when AJ and Blake were heading towards the library.

Realizing they were alone the new couple had just grabbed each other's hand and were strolling down the halls smiling at each other.

"I love you." AJ said happily.

"I love you too." Blake said and giggled lightly.

When suddenly they were stopped by a familiar yellowness in their peripheral vision.

They looked to see Yang standing in front of them and before they could say anything she put a hand on AJ's chest and her other hand on Blake's. They both stared at her for a moment and were thoroughly confused to see her eyes closed with a pleasant smile on her face. Not here usual grin that spelled trouble for whoever was her target, but a truly happy smile.

She sighed happily before speaking. "Just being near each other and I can feel your hearts pounding." AJ and Blake both blushed at this comment.

"I thought it was a bit early to be using the L word, but you two seem really happy, so I guess I can rest easy. You two don't look like a couple that will just end after a week or two, or at all really." Yang said, still giving her new smile. Her face turned serious rather than going back to her cheeky grin as she got really close to AJ and looked up at him.

"If you do anything to hurt my partner, there will be hell to pay. Got it?" She said threateningly. AJ didn't seem scared, simply caught off guard, and he just smiled.

"Would never dream of it." He promised and smiled at Blake.

"Alright." Yang said gaining her usual grin, which scared them. "So, you two kissed yet?"

"Um… well…" AJ started shyly.

"We haven't had that much time together, so no. I already told you that we have to lay low." Blake said to Yang, looking disapprovingly at her for the question.

"What?!" Yang exclaimed overdramatically before turning more serious. "You mean you two didn't kiss when you admitted your love for each other?" Yang teased.

""Well…"" They both started hesitantly.

"Alright, both of you kiss, now." Yang suddenly ordered.

"Wait what?" Blake asked, not sure she heard that right.

"Huh?" AJ thought the same thing.

"Both of you need to kiss, now. If you decide to say you love each other this needs to have happened already." Yang explained.

"Whoa, don't you think you're making us go a bit too fast?" AJ pointed out.

"You two decided you were deep enough in love to say it." Yang pointed out in return, shrugging. "Now hurry up before someone else sees."

The two Faunus both sighed before facing each other awkwardly. Then slowly AJ put his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck and looked up at him before they shared a quick kiss.

Rather than cheering for them or teasing them, Yang had quickly taken out her Scroll and turned on the camera.

The couple broke from the quick kiss and were soon gazing into each other's eyes, both seeing a beautiful sparkle in them that soon brought them back in for another, longer kiss. Yang knew this would happen and it was then that she took the picture.

The couple eventually stopped for air and stared at each other again, still not letting go of each other.

"Alright love birds, that's enough." Yang said, bringing them back to reality and making them blush more than they were already as they broke apart and went back to holding hands.

"You guys did pretty good for a first time. So, you both enjoy it?" Yang teased. Both Faunus looked away, blush not receding.

"So, where have you been all day?" AJ asked after a minute of awkward silence that Yang decided not to break herself. He wasn't sure if the library thing was true.

"I was in the library, like I said." Yang said like it was an everyday thing for her to be in the library.

"And?... What were you doing there?" AJ asked, wanting her to elaborate.

"I was researching something." Yang explained, clearly leaving things out.

"Care to tell us what?" Blake asked.

"Hehe…" Yang laughed sheepishly, trying to find a way out of this. "Have fun in the library! Don't do anything naughty!" Yang teased before running away from further questioning.

The couple watched her till she turned a corner and then decided they didn't really care enough to chase her. So they went to the library like they used to do, and sat at the same table reading books. This time holding hands while they did so.

Thankfully Yang actually kept the couple a secret, didn't even tell Ruby, who would have definitely let it slip by accident. Not even Weiss who would have probably had a fuss about it for some reason, was told about it. Yang was actually helpful for once, not ruining things with her teasing, it was really weird actually. She seemed the kind of person to let out secrets, especially ones like this.

'That look they have in their eyes when they look at each other…' People probably wouldn't expect it, but Yang was actually _very_ knowledgeable when it came to love. The kind of knowledge you would expect from an adult. But she knew better than others. 'I have never seen such a strong bond, and it's only been a week.' That seems like something an adult would say seeing a young couple, but it was Yang who noticed this, no one else. Pyrrha and Ren noticed the secret couple as well, but only Yang knew how strong it really was. 'Where did it come from? Why are they so attached? So deeply in love after such a short time? I'm actually jealous!'

"So, if it's safe to ask now, and you don't have to answer if you don't want too, but, why did you get really angry for awhile?" Blake asked AJ on another reading session in the library.

"That's ok, I can answer that. I just thought you didn't like me then, and I got into a… period, where I was just angry that I never was going to be in love. But that doesn't matter now." AJ said smiling at her and they kissed quickly.

'I knew that was why!' "So, you were just putting yourself down again, basically?" Blake asked with a disapproving tone.

AJ sighed. "Yeah…"

"You still haven't stopped that…" Blake stated more than asked.

"I'm sorry." AJ said, his cat ears hanging down.

Blake kissed his cheek so he'd smile again. "I'll get you to stop someday." She stated, determined.

"Heh, good luck." AJ said, still unsure how she would convince him to think otherwise on that matter.

* * *

"So… we got a problem." AJ said as he walked into the SPWM dorm another week later.

"What kind of problem?" Sam asked, not really caring.

"The kind that Yang has to do with?" Isaac guessed with a chuckle.

"The kind where canon is in danger?" Raymond guessed.

As you might be able to tell, Sam still hates being here, though they all had gotten used to it awhile ago. Isaac had molded to the world pretty well, already getting how things work. Raymond loved being here almost as much as AJ did but definitely worried more than anyone else did about various things.

"The kind-" AJ paused, thinking about what they both said. "You're… both right… technically…" He said pointing at both of them. "You remember the episode The Stray, right?" He asked Raymond.

"Yeah, the one that doesn't exactly end well." Raymond said after some thought, nodding.

"Well… I hoped we could stay out of the way of that… but Ruby just invited us along to Vale to meet the new arrivals from the other academies. Kind of hard to say no to a friend inviting other friends along." AJ explained, rubbing the back of his neck worryingly. Blake actually was the one to invite them… Raymond didn't need to know that, and AJ couldn't say no to her.

"Alright, fine. Just try not to screw anything up." Raymond said pointing at all of them.

"Well you'll need to tell us exactly what happens and why we need to not mess it up." Isaac mentioned and AJ and Raymond both explained what happens and how it affects the episode after that.

"So there will be yelling if we didn't change anything, but we have to let it play out." AJ finished.

Isaac sighed. "Fine, should be easy enough."

"What about you AJ?" Sam asked, one of his rare moments where he actually speaks to someone other than Raymond, or speaks at all really.

"What about me?" AJ asked.

"You are a Faunus too, what if Weiss tries to drag you into it somehow?" Sam asked.

"I'm gonna stay out of it, maybe I'll just chase Sun or something. That will get me away from her." AJ answered.

"That might work." Raymond commented.

And now that "Welcome to Vale" sign looked very familiar… no doubt about it… canon had continued.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss said happily.

"Never seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby commented.

"I would be lying if I said it didn't creep me out a little bit." AJ said. Raymond elbowed him.

"I was just about to say that." Ruby noted.

"Oh quiet you!" Weiss said to AJ who flinched slightly.

"I need to stop pushing my luck with her. I'm on thin Weiss as it is with her." AJ said seriously to his team in the back of the group. Raymond groaned from the pun. Yang had apparently heard him and gave a thumbs up.

"I mean, how could you not smile?" Weiss asked, regaining her unusual smile. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world!"

"Why don't we have that?" Isaac asked the other guys who shrugged.

"Maybe we do any just don't know about it." AJ wondered.

"There will be dances, a parade, a tournament! Oh the amount of planning and organization that goes into this is simply breathtaking!" Weiss said as they all started walking again.

"It certainly sounds exciting." AJ commented, hoping to make Weiss dislike him a bit less.

Yang sighed. "You really know how to take a great thing and make it sound boring." She commented.

"Quiet you!" Weiss said before realizing she had just said that a moment ago.

"Hey, I think it's pretty cool how much work goes into it. Weiss raises a good point you know." AJ said to Yang who turned and stuck her tongue out at him childishly. Weiss looked back at him and confirmed he was being honest when defending her. She of course made no move to thank him.

"So, remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon at the stupid docks?" Yang asked as they reached the docks.

"Really Yang? Even I was able to remember why we're here!" AJ teased and Yang turned to him rubbing something out of her eye with her middle finger. AJ simply chuckled slightly as she was clearly enjoying the playful banter.

"The docks smell like fish. I don't like it." Ruby commented, pinching her nose.

"They _are_ the docks." Sam smartassly remarked. (That's a word now)

"I agree though, it does smell pretty bad." Isaac said pinching his nose as well.

"Actually, it kind of smells good." AJ said and took a deep breath through his nose. "Oh no… don't tell me I like fish now?" He asked himself, voice filled with overdramatic dread.

"Anyway, I heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving today by boat. And as a representative of Beacon, I fell as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom." Weiss said proudly as they started to walk over to the dock to meet the students.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have an advantage in the tournament." Blake explained.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss replied.

"Notice she didn't deny it." AJ whispered to the guys, but Blake heard it as well with her cat ears and chuckled lightly.

"Whoa." Ruby commented and they all looked to see what she was talking about.

The yellow police tape, the two detectives, the broken glass from the windows of the shop. 'So far so good I suppose.'

"What happened here?" Ruby asked the detective closest.

"Robbery, second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The detective said before walking to his partner.

"That's terrible." Yang said sadly.

"They left all the money again!" The second detective said.

"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" The first detective asked.

"I don't know! An army?" The second detective guessed.

"You thinkin' the uhh… White Fang?" The first asked the second.

"Yeah I'm thinking we don't get paid enough." The second commented, taking off his glasses.

"Hmph! The White Fang! What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Weiss commented.

AJ felt stress take hold of his chest, realizing he needed to find a reason to leave… now!

"Oh! Guys!" He exclaimed, turning to his fellow Earthlings. "We still need to see those new students! Let's go!" He said and started dragging Raymond with him.

"Hey! I'm not the shortest one anymore! I'm not much shorter than you now at all! You can't just drag me around!" Raymond complained but couldn't get free of his grip. Sam and Isaac turned to follow, while Ruby and Yang were distracted by the argument that was quickly becoming heated.

"Alright, he should be here any-"

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!"

"And here we go." AJ finished.

Sun, the blond monkey Faunus, ran out and jumped onto the edge of the boat as two men chased him.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" Sun exclaimed before laughing and jumping off the ship.

"You no-good stowaway!" One of the men yelled as Sun hung off a light post by his tail, and peeling a banana.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would have been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" Sun said and AJ and Raymond chuckled.

Team RWBY finally joined the guys.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" One of the detectives asked as they both approached Sun. He was met with a banana peel falling on his face.

Sun flipped onto the top of the light post and laughed. He jumped and landed in a crouch before continuing his run off the docks, up the stairs, and towards the two teams. He noticed the cat Faunus boy glaring at him as he got close and got the message, deciding _against_ winking at the pretty Faunus girl next to him and instead giving AJ a double thumbs up to say "good luck."

AJ nodded thankfully to Sun as he ran by, running from the detectives. Blake looked at him curiously, noticing how the Faunus gave AJ a thumbs up. AJ simply shrugged, feigning ignorance and looking away from her.

"Well Weiss? You wanted to see the competition, and theeeere it goes…" Yang pointed out.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss exclaimed before running after Sun, the two teams soon following.

Weiss turned one corner and immediately ran into someone, Penny, not that RWBY knew that.

"Weiss. You might want to get up." Raymond suggested while AJ ran after Sun even as he hopped up a building.

AJ followed Sun across a few more buildings before suddenly stopping on the roof of one to take a breather and turn to AJ.

"So, now that those cops won't be following me anymore… Hey! I'm Sun!" Sun said holding his hand out to AJ.

'Quick to trust a Faunus I see…' "Hi, I go by AJ." AJ said, shaking Sun's hand.

"So, why did you follow me?" Sun asked, sitting down and looking out at the city.

"Umm… to be honest? I needed to avoid someone in the group for a bit, figured I might talk to you." AJ said sheepishly.

"Fair enough, but what about that girl? Shouldn't you be trying to get her attention?" Sun asked as AJ sat down next to him.

"Nah, we're already going out, I'm sure she won't mind. I think they're busy meeting someone anyway." AJ said, briefly looking in the direction of his friends.

"Oh! Well let me take back my thumbs up of luck, and turn it into a 'good job' thumbs up!" He said excitedly giving an overdramatic thumbs up. They both laughed at this.

"So, you're new to Vale. I assume you're one of the students from… Vacuo?" AJ tried to remember.

"Yeah! Check out my cool weapon!" Sun said standing up and pulling out his staff.

"Awesome! Check out what I got!" AJ said standing up and pulling out his rifle.

"Nice!" Sun commented checking out AJ's weapon. "Would look better with some cool engraving on it though." He commented.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But it can do this." AJ said casually and his weapon became a one-handed sword, then a war axe, then a bow and arrow, then Sun's staff.

"That is awesome! How can you do that!?" Sun asked, astounded at the versatility of the weapon.

"I don't know honestly. Whatever weapon I want it to be, I can make it become that weapon, makes for a difficult weapon to counter." AJ said.

"Oh, I did also want to make sure you weren't gonna make any moves on her." AJ said suddenly, looking back up at him seriously.

"What? Nah man! She's clearly yours! I won't steal her!" Sun said truthfully.

"Good, just making sure." AJ said smiling again.

"YOU IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT!" AJ just faintly heard Blake's voice.

"Oh crap! Um… great meeting you Sun! See you later!" AJ said, putting his weapon away in rifle form before jumping backwards off the roof and jogging down the street to find his friends.

"Hey what-" Sun stopped, seeing his new friend walking away, so he sighed and went on his way.

"So, time to go?" AJ asked Raymond as he approached behind them, seeing the argument that he wanted to jump into.

""Yeah…"" Raymond and Yang both said.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked.

* * *

The trip back to Beacon was not a pleasant one. AJ shook his head when Blake looked in his direction, telling her he couldn't help, not now. When they had gotten back to their dorms the argument still hadn't stopped and SPWM decided to just let canon play out.

The moment they got back Isaac went into the restroom.

"Oh come on! I gotta go!... There's a public restroom down the hall!" AJ remembered before leaving the dorm before Raymond or Sam could say anything.

He stood outside the RWBY dorm waiting for things to play out, desperately wanting to ease Blake's pain right now rather than wait.

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

"And now, it's time." AJ said quietly and prepared for Blake to run out the door and run away. He stayed out of her sight while she ran until she was outside and at the statue. He immediately pulled her into a tight hug and let her cry into his chest for awhile.

"I- *hick* I-It wasn't supposed to come out like that!" Blake said into his chest.

"It's ok… It's ok… It'll be ok." AJ whispered, taking off her bow and scratching behind her cat ears.

"What happened?" Sun asked, concerned, from behind AJ who didn't move from his position.

"Another day. Can we go somewhere else?" AJ asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." Sun said, nodding, and it took a few more minutes for Blake to calm down.

"I promise you, this will all work out in the end." AJ said softly to Blake as she finally looked up and he kissed her.

"How do you know?" Blake asked.

"Just trust me, ok?" AJ requested and she nodded.

"Are you're telling me AJ went with her!?" Raymond yelled angrily.

"Yeah, that's what I saw. Maybe he'll bring her back?" Ruby suggested hopefully.

"If what I think has happened, has happened… then I don't think he'll bring her back." Raymond guessed, angry tone not leaving.

"What do you think happened?" Ruby asked.

"I think they might be going out without AJ telling me. Do any of you know anything like that?" He asked glaring at them. He noticed Yang flinch ever so slightly and approached her, Aura causing his eyes to glow.

"Are you keeping something about my friend hidden from me Yang?" He asked threateningly.

Yang eventually cracked. "Look! They never told me why I couldn't tell you! They just said that I couldn't tell you!" She said, afraid of the dark Aura he was giving off.

"If he did what I think he did… we have to find him!" Raymond demanded.

"Don't bother. He just ran off with her to join the White Fang." Weiss said rudely and found Raymond giving her the death stare, his whole body glowing purple.

"He never did anything to you." Raymond said with quiet anger, defending his friend the much scarier way.

Weiss actually flinched at the usually calm boy's anger.

"Look, if I know AJ, I'm sure he will convince her to come back, just give him till Sunday." Yang said to Raymond who didn't seem to like the plan. "And you, Weiss, need to not call out Blake the moment she gets back." She said, pointing at Ice Queen.

"How can I not!?" Weiss asked.

Raymond growled in annoyance before turning and heading back to their own dorm.

"You can't seriously be thinking about staying, can you AJ?" Raymond asked himself as he tried to fall asleep.

"Look, I'm sure he is just getting her back." Sam said.

"You don't get it! He is going out with Blake! He isn't going to want to leave! What do I say to his parents!?" Raymond asked angrily. Sam and Isaac backed off and let Raymond be till Sunday, when the search began.

* * *

"They've been gone all weekend… I thought they would come back…" Ruby said sadly as they were now walking through Vale.

"Well they didn't! Now we have to look for them." Raymond said with an irritated tone.

"Blake's a big girl, and AJ has that strange weapon of his. I'm sure they can take care of themselves." Weiss said carelessly.

"Come on! They're out teammates!" Yang scolded.

"Is she though? Is _he_ even!?" Weiss asked.

"Yes. He is." Raymond glared at her.

"Yes, but _we_ heard what Blake said, and we have to assume AJ heard it as well. So why did he go with her?" Weiss questioned.

"Because they're in love! He was just comforting her!" Yang defended AJ. "And maybe she is, maybe she isn't, even!" Now defending Blake.

"I have known AJ all my life." Raymond lied. "He had no time to be a member, so I _know_ he isn't." Raymond was now losing his patience with Weiss.

"Yeah, and Blake-" Weiss started.

"IS MISSING!" Yang interrupted. "And we need to find her!"

"I just can't believe it! A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" Weiss exclaimed, unable to keep her mouth shut no matter how much Raymond and the others glared at her.

"I just hope they're ok…" Ruby said, depressed.

"AJ has some explaining to do." Raymond said darkly.

"Honestly, I get that bad things happened, but AJ had nothing to do with any of that." To everyone's surprise, Sam was the one that said that.

"You wouldn't understand." Weiss said simply and chose to ignore him.

"Yeah, because I don't understand stupid." Sam said simply before backing up to Raymond and Isaac, who were still shocked by Sam's sudden momentary change in behavior.

* * *

AJ, Sun, and Blake had been sitting at a table and drinking tea (AJ wasn't drinking tea though, just soda) and AJ was now patiently waiting for Blake to say her well known quote that ended off the episode.

Sun took a drink of his cup that he held with his tail, Blake took a drink and sighed, this was it…

"So… You want to know more about me?" Blake asked them. AJ couldn't help but notice fear and worry in her tone this time… not like canon.

"Heeeeyyy! She speaks again! You haven't exactly done much of that these past two days." Sun mentioned making Blake frown at him. "Though you have given me looks like that sometimes." AJ chuckled at the pleasant change of canon. "And you made out with your boyfriend sometimes." He said tilting his head at AJ, sat next to Blake, who casually looked away and blushed lightly.

"Are you both familiar with the White Fang?" Blake asked them slowly, that odd fear still present.

'Why would she be afraid? How would I change this scene?... oh…'

"Yeah, a violent Faunus rights group, used to be more peaceful." AJ explained before Sun could say his opinion.

WHICH HE STILL TRIED TO SAY ANYWAY.

"More like a bunch of-"

"Sun! Quiet!" AJ demanded.

"What? What did I do?" Sun asked, confused.

"I… was once a member of the White Fang." Blake said and looked at AJ. 'Yep, I get it now.'

Meanwhile Sun was coughing from tea going down the wrong pipe.

"You really think that would change how I felt about you?" AJ asked her, smiling.

"Well I-" AJ cut her off with a deep kiss, holding his right hand to her left cheek before putting that hand behind her head and his left hand on her back, pulling her deeper into the kiss.

"Never." He said when they separated. "What you did then doesn't change how good of a person you are now, and how beautiful you are." He finished, smiling at her and brushing his hand on her right cheek now. Blake blushed, and seeing that he was telling the truth on the first part smiled greatly, feeling a great sense of relief. "Go on." He said motioning for her to speak.

"I was once a member, for most of my life, almost like I was born into it. Like you said AJ, back then, they were peaceful. Back then, they were a symbol of peace between humans and Faunus. But despite being promised equality, we were still treated like lesser beings, so the White Fang rose up as a voice for our people. I was at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist. Then five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place.

'Ever since she was 12 she had to deal with that? Five years of that violence? Pretty much raised in it…'

A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Then our organized protests were replaced with organized attacks. We set fire to shops that refused to serve us, stole shipments from companies that used Faunus labor, and the worst part, it was working. But we weren't being treated equally out of respect, we were being treated equally out of fear… So I left! I decided I wasn't going to use my skills to aid in their violence. I would instead dedicate my life to become a Huntress, all with the help of this little black bow here." Blake said and her bow moved.

"A bow that you might as well take off now." AJ added.

"Did you tell your friends any of this?" Sun asked.

"She didn't want to tell me, thinking I would leave her, so what do you think?" AJ asked Sun, who nodded slightly in understanding.

"I'm just glad you aren't angry about it." Blake said, smiling at AJ.

"Like I said, never." He said, smiling back.

* * *

"AJ! BLAAAAKE!" Ruby yelled.

"BLAAAAKE! AJ!" Yang yelled.

"AJ! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Raymond yelled angrily.

They were drawing _quite_ a few looks from the civilians, walking through the city streets and yelling.

"Weiss. You're not helping!" Ruby complained.

"Oh, you know who could help? The police!" Weiss suggested.

"Weiss…" Ruby growled.

"It was just a suggestion!" Weiss lamely defended.

"AJ didn't do anything to deserve the police on him, and I doubt Blake is a bad enough person to deserve them either." Isaac said, defending AJ.

"Hello!? White Fang!?" Weiss stated like it was an obvious thing.

"Again, maybe she isn't." Yang suggested. "We really should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

"And I think when we do, you'll all realize I was right!" Weiss stated proudly.

"And I think Isaac is really tall for his age!"

"AGH! Penny where did you come from!?" Ruby asked, surprised.

'Whoa! That change to canon though!' Raymond thought as he turned to see Penny behind them.

"Hey guys! What are you up to?" Penny asked, ignoring the question Ruby shot at her.

"Well…" Ruby started.

"We're looking for our friends, Blake and AJ." Yang answered.

"Ah yes! AJ. That other friend of yours that didn't come by till later and then left without a word to me… And Blake! That is… the Faunus girl! Right?" Penny asked.

"Um… yeah… How did you know she was a Faunus?" Yang asked, confused.

"The cat ears." Penny stated pointing at the top of her own head.

"What ears? She has a… bow…" Yang realized and a tumbleweed that doesn't belong in the city went by.

"She does like tuna a lot…" Ruby commented.

"And I think AJ might as well." Isaac stated leaning forward and whispering.

"So, where are they?" Penny asked.

"We don't know, they've been missing since Friday." Ruby said sadly.

"Which is why we need to keep looking for them!" Raymond exclaimed angrily before walking off. Sam and Isaac shared a concerned look before following.

"Don't worry Ruby my friend! We won't rest until we find your teammate! Just follow your friend Raymond's example!" Penny said pointing at the boy who was stomping off down the street. "Just look at his enthusiasm!"

"Uh… yeah… enthusiasm…" Ruby said then looked and saw she was the only one there with Penny, Weiss and Yang leaving her alone. "Even my own team!?" Ruby whined.

Another tumbleweed.

"It sure is windy today."

* * *

"So… what's the plan now?" Sun asked, looking to his right at the couple. AJ's arm wrapped around Blake as they walked.

AJ's face turned serious turning from Blake to Sun. "We find out if the White Fang are behind the Dust robberies." He answered.

"I still don't think it's them. They never needed that much Dust." Blake said, managing to follow canon perfectly again.

"How would we know if they did or not though?" AJ asked, sounding truly confused but just letting Sun have his part. He questioned briefly why he even bothered but found no time to answer as Sun moved in front of them.

"The only way we could know, is if we go to the most likely place they would be if they were to do it! Maybe we won't find them!" Sun wondered, though being overly optimistic didn't really suit him.

"Maybe, but where would that be?" Blake asked.

"I heard about a shipment coming in from Atlas." Sun suddenly commented.

"Really? Where did you hear this?" AJ asked, curiously. Well, feigning curiosity.

"While I was on the ship." Sun said sheepishly.

'Guess he didn't want to talk about illegal things around Blake, she did sort of bite down on him about that when he tried to steal food for us yesterday. Heh, that was the first time she had spoken to him. Great start.'

* * *

"So why aren't we just waiting for him at the docks? You know, where the canon story will continue." Sam asked.

"Because we need to find him now! Before he messes anything up!" Raymond yelled.

"Ray. Why don't you stop yelling!?" Sam said, anger in his low pitch voice.

Raymond sighed. "Sorry." He said, anger not fully leaving.

"Ray, come on. Do you really think he will mess with canon?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah he-"

"Ray. Calm down and think, would he really mess with the canon story?" Isaac asked calmly and let Raymond think for a minute.

"…No… I don't think he would…" Raymond said slowly, realizing the point.

"You just want to ask him things, I get that. But you still need to calm down, you've been so pissed off since AJ left." Isaac said.

"I'm just worried he decided to leave us." Raymond said sadly.

"And you can't make him change him mind about that. If he does decide to stay here, then it must be because he's happy, and you need to let him be happy. As cliché as that sounds, cliché tends to be for the best." Isaac finished.

"Besides, it's not like we're going back anytime soon." Sam pointed out grumpily. The tone he had got a chuckle out of them, lightening the mood.

"Alright then, so let's just keep looking until it gets dark. Then, we head to the docks, or the port… shipyard… whatever it is." Raymond said, confused.

* * *

"You're really tense. You gonna be ok?" Blake asked, putting a comforting hand up to AJ's cheek.

"Yeah, I just have a bad feeling." AJ said. 'We've been sitting here for so long! What if Sun doesn't come back and then they get here! Forget that! They're gonna be here soon! That's a fact!' The fact is that he and Blake, more importantly, Blake, are gonna be in danger soon. The stress had been gnawing at him ever since they got there. It didn't matter to him that they hadn't been together long, all that mattered to him was that she was in danger.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked as he came back.

AJ sighed in relief. 'At least he's here.'

"Not really." Blake said.

"No, offloading the cargo was _real_ eventful. We're just waiting right now, the crates have just been sitting there." AJ finished.

"Cool. Got you guys some food!" Sun said holding out two apples, AJ took one while Blake looked at the other, then at Sun.

"I thought I told you not to break the law." Blake deadpanned.

"She did." AJ agreed.

"Yeah, but weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun shot back, earning a glare from her and strangely a laugh from AJ. "Ok, too soon." Sun said, shying away from the amber glare.

Just as AJ got ready for it, the ship flew over their heads, scanning and soon finding the cargo containers.

"Oh no…" Blake said grimly.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"Yes. It's them." Blake said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I hoped it wasn't them too but…" AJ said, putting a comforting hand on her bare shoulder.

Blake sighed. "It's alright… I think deep down… I knew it was them, I just didn't want to be right."

"Hey! What's the hold up!?"

'Oh shit, right, forgot about him!'

Roman Torchwich stepped out of the airship, bowler hat, cane, orange hair, white suit, nothing has changed with him it seems.

"We're not the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so! Why don't you animals try to pick up the pace!" Roman ordered.

"No… this isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like him." Blake said but AJ grabbed her hand before she could jump down.

"Just please be careful." AJ pleaded, looking her in the eyes with a pleading look.

"I will." Blake said with a nod and they kissed quickly before she jumped down.

"Hey wait!" Sun called out too late. "You mean you're not stopping her!?" He asked AJ.

"You better take care of her down there." AJ glared at him.

"What are you gonna be doing then?" Sun asked.

"Taking care of the leader of course." AJ said simply before jumping down.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you adding this scum!?" Blake asked as AJ approached the group, hidden from sight.

"Oh kid, didn't you get the memo?" Roman asked smug as ever.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." Roman answered.

"Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little 'operation'!" Blake demanded. But there was a loud noise of an engine about them when the airships flew in.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Roman said looking up at the ships, before one was taken down by a rocket. "What!?" The other ships backed off seeing this.

They looked over to see AJ jump out, weapon going from rocket launcher back to rifle.

"Hi! I'm here!" He stated angrily, pointing at the White Fang men who turned to point their weapons at him.

Roman used this as his chance and fired off his shot from his cane, sending Blake flying away.

"Well, it looks like he actually followed canon…"

"See? I told you he wouldn't mess with anything!"

"Do we jump in?"

"… No… let's see how he handles things by himself…"

"Why!? We need to help our teammate!"

"Maybe then he'll realize he can't just leave without us…"

"Are you really still trying to change the decision that he has to have already made!?"

AJ charged at Torchwich, seeing Blake hurt slightly. He turned his weapon to a metal bat to knock out the first grunt he got to, running through the group to get to Roman.

Roman fired a shot from his cane and AJ threw a nearby grunt into the shell before it could hit him. He then turned and fired two shots from his lever-action-rifle into the grunts on his left and right, their Aura taking the large caliber round but still knocking them out, before dodging more shots fired by Roman's cane.

"Now!" AJ yelled and Sun landed on Roman, knocking him down face first.

"I got this! You're the one that should take care of her!" Sun said as he stared down Roman.

"Alright!" AJ said, nodding, before running of to help Blake hold back the White Fang grunts.

"The other airships dropped soldiers while you were distracted! Be careful!" He heard Sun shout as he ran.

He jumped in and kicked away a grunt as Blake turned to fight that very grunt. "You ok?"

"Just fine!" She said as she slashed a grunt across the chest, knocking him down. "We need to stop Roman though!" She yelled blocking an overhead strike from another grunt before slashing at him, making him take a step back.

"Don't worry! I'm gonna make sure he doesn't get away!" AJ said as he spun his axe around him, taking out two grunts that came at him from his left and from behind. He then spun to his right, making his weapon a war hammer than sent another grunt flying away.

They quickly ran out of guards. The fact that one ship full of them was taken out early meant there were fewer to deal with. They ran over to find Sun firing off shots from his gun-chucks unable to get a hit on Roman. Blake jumped in and got a quick hit before all three came at him.

Roman tried and failed to block the combined attacks, after being hit multiple times and clearly not faring well, he took a chance and fired at their feet, blowing away all four of them. It was worth it for Roman, he couldn't take the combined barrage of their attacks. He stood up and thought of his next move when he got a message on his wrist communicator. He looked at it before laughing victoriously.

"Would _love_ to stick around and get my butt kicked, but I gotta go! Have fun Aiden!" Roman said and waved, turning to just casually walk away from them.

"You really think I'll let you get away!?" AJ yelled and fired a shot at Roman.

The bullet was blocked by a brown circular shield, a young man suddenly appearing between Roman and the bullet.

The man wore light brown armor, full upper body, leg armor, shoulder pads, boots, all steel, but no helmet. This showed he was not much older than them. Smooth, greasy black hair, blue eyes, looked like he was the cool kid in school with that smirk. He had two swords on his back, the light brown handles sticking out over both shoulders. His shield compacted itself, not like Jaune's where it pops out, but where it shrunk in a circular motion. Apparently the thing was attached to his right arm, folding into the armor of the lower right arm, suggesting he's left handed, or ambidextrous.

"Oh look, someone else who likes brown a lot." The guy, obviously Aiden, said smiling casually. "Cool cloak."

"Who the fuck?" AJ asked himself. This guy was definitely not canon, and that worried him.

"Wanna play around a bit?" Aiden asked, excited.

AJ quickly pulled up his rifle again and fired, trying to catch the guy by surprise. His shield unfolded as he suddenly crouched behind it, blocking the attack with no problem. He looked over the shield which was no larger than Pyrrha's, and smirked. He suddenly disappeared in a faint flash of green Aura and AJ was hit in the back, stumbling forward.

"Huh?" Sun exclaimed before he was hit hard with the shield, almost knocked out.

Blake finally turned to her right and saw the guy holding one sword in his left hand, shield out for the other, standing right behind where AJ was standing. Now it was clear he stood at 6'1, just under AJ's height. His sword was simple, sharp on both ends, standard straight sword. The blade is not colored in any way, staying the normal grey color of steel.

"Well hello beautiful!" Aiden said turning to Blake, who glared at him in disgust.

"Wanna come with me and skip town? Leave these losers behind?" He asked approaching her, not even getting to touch her cheek as she had lashed out with Gambol shroud's katana and hit air. He was standing behind her, slapping her ass made her jump away and growl at him fiercely.

"Oh I love it when they fight baAAAACK!" Aiden shouted in an uncool way, barely dodging yellow electricity that AJ had shot at him. "NOT COOL MAN!" He shouted angrily at AJ who hissed at him in return, sparks flowing off his left hand.

Aiden left with another flash as he magically, and instantly, appeared behind AJ and sliced him with his sword. "Don't ever do that again!" He yelled, pointing at AJ as he stumbled away.

"Don't ever _touch_ her again!" AJ shouted at Aiden as he spun around to face him.

"Now!"

Aiden was suddenly trapped in a purple coffin, Raymond, Sam, and Isaac all jumping in.

"Sup." Isaac said casually.

"Don't make the usual hero mistake, just kill this guy now." AJ ordered, not showing any surprise.

"If you say so." Raymond said, still holding out his hand to keep the coffin there.

"Whoa! Why we killing people here!?" Aiden yelled from inside. As usual with anything Raymond creates with his Semblance you can see right through it, just with a purple tinge to everything, so they could see the guy freaking out. Fake freaking out.

Then he was suddenly behind Raymond and sliced him. Then he did the same to the other guys, only pausing one second at a time between teleportations.

"You guys are really getting on my nerves!" Aiden yelled angrily as the guys took their stances, ready to fight. "You know what!? Fuck you guys!" He said, flipping them off. "I'm out of here!" He shouted, throwing his arm up dramatically, before disappearing in another flash of forest green Aura.

AJ growled at the spot the guy once stood at before turning back to Blake they hugged and kissed briefly. "You're ok?" He asked as they broke the kiss.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Blake said. "That guy was an asshole though." She said, shuddering at the thought.

"Don't remind me." AJ growled. "Just thinking of him makes me want to-"

"HEY!"

AJ turned around.

"YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!" Raymond yelled before Isaac grabbed him, making him stop yelling.

"Raymond… NOT THE TIME!" AJ yelled back angrily.

"Why are you with her!?" Raymond asked pointing at Blake.

"That's what this is about!?" AJ asked. Realizing Raymond had Aura he decided to indulge in his want to punch his best friend in the face for that. Raymond reeled back from the hit and went to respond when Isaac and even Sam grabbed him by the arms.

"YES IT IS!"

"Ray! You said you would work this out!" Isaac reminded him and Raymond eventually calmed down.

"Your best fucking friend… and you would just leave!?" Raymond yelled.

"It's not like it was a fucking easy decision!" AJ yelled back, Blake let go of AJ and took a step back.

"And what about your family!?" Raymond asked.

"I'm going to miss them… a lot! Especially my mom! I am really, _really_ going to miss her!" AJ said tearing up, now facing what his decision really meant.

"How can you say that and just leave?" Raymond asked, voice lowering much since this started. Now just filled with concern and sadness.

"It's not like I don't like them, or playing games and texting with you, but I want love so damn badly Raymond! So badly that I am happy enough just being with her! I accepted that when I made the decision to be with her!"

"I don't understand how you can leave everything behind for one person!" Raymond yelled looking at Blake for a moment.

"What about _your_ girlfriend!? Would you do anything for _her_?!" Raymond glared at AJ for a moment, he had been avoiding thinking about her all this time, but AJ had a point…

"I… I…"

"And I would do anything for _her_. My mom was so nice to me, and my Dad always bought me things when I asked for them, I was nice enough to not always ask for stuff though… But I know what I'm leaving behind, so stop reminding and questioning me! Just accept that I made my decision! It's not like you're leaving yet anyway." AJ finished and turned to walk back to Blake.

"Fine." AJ stopped and looked back, seeing Raymond staring at the ground. "I get it… You are happy with her… and you feel she's enough for you to live here… Fine… I'm sorry for trying to change your mind about it… It's a big decision. That should have told me that you weren't gonna change your mind." Raymond finished, looking up at AJ again.

"Thank you… I'm sorry for punching you in the face and bringing up things you didn't want to think about." AJ said, smiling sadly.

"Heh. Just the face? So you would gladly hit me anywhere else?" Raymond asked, smiling at his joke.

AJ didn't want to say anything that might ruin the mood so he simply laughed with him. The others smiled at this, seeing that the two friends had gotten over their troubles, and they would still stick by each other's side for as long as they were still around to do so.

"One problem though." AJ said a while after laughing. "Actually two."

"What?" Raymond asked, curious more than anything.

"One: I kept another secret from you." AJ said before his hand started giving off electricity. "I found my semblance!" He stated, smiling.

"Yeah I saw, you never showed that during training… Meh, it's ok I guess… Though lighting is really cliché, don't you think?" Raymond commented, frowning.

"Hey, lighting is awesome!" AJ childishly defended, smiling, then turning serious again. "The other problem: Weiss." He said simply.

Raymond stared at him for a moment. "Oooohhh…" Raymond realized, then Sam and Isaac remembered what they were told was supposed to happen after this.

"Actually three. WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT GUY!?" AJ remembered.

"He wasn't canon right?" Isaac asked, to which the two RWBY experts nodded.

"Aiden is definitely not canon." AJ said. They had moved away from Blake and Sun for a moment so Blake didn't have to hear anything.

"Are you still keeping secrets from me?" Blake asked in a teasing tone when he came back, she didn't really care.

"Hey, aren't you?" AJ defended.

"No…" Blake said not looking him in the eyes.

"Heh, I love you." AJ said and hugged her.

"I love you too." Blake said and they kissed again.

"I mean come on, they make a cute couple!" Isaac commented.

"I guess they do." Raymond said hiding his sadness with a smile, as everyone does.

"Um… wasn't Ruby supposed to come here by now?" Isaac asked Raymond.

"Yeah she was… where is she?" Raymond asked out loud. 'What could have delayed her?...'

"Hey guys!"

"Agh! Ruby where did you come from!?" AJ asked, imitating the girl. He then noticed she had torn the clothes on her left leg, and her clothes also looked burned slightly in that area. "What happened?"

"Oh! Right! Hehe… big airship came down and almost crushed me." Ruby said casually.

"Oh, glad you're ok." AJ said looking over her to make sure she really was ok.

"Oh, don't worry! My Aura kept any bones from being crushed in my leg, and I'm pretty sure Penny saved me… though all I remember was seeing flames and then her coming towards me then I passed out from shock, then I woke up and saw her taking care of me… by the way, where is she? I thought she followed me here." Ruby said it all quickly.

'She still has Aura _and_ her usual energy despite how close she came to death… by me… whoops… Maybe I shouldn't have shot that thing down… probably caused quite a bit of damage in the town as well.'

"Uh, guys?" Sam brought their attention to Weiss and Yang approaching.

"Kay. I'm just gonna-" AJ started to turn and leave.

"YOU!" Weiss apparently wanted to get at him before Blake. "What do you have to say for yourself!?"

"We worked things out Weiss, he's cool." Raymond said, now defending the person he was yelling at not long ago.

"Look. I may believe everything you said about him, but with how angry you were I find it hard to believe you just-"

"We worked it out, ok?" Raymond asked, irritated. Weiss reluctantly left AJ alone, seeing as Raymond seemed to have calmed down. Weiss decided to actually believe what he said, she still wanted to yell at him and question him, but there were more pressing matters.

Meanwhile AJ nodded towards Raymond in thanks for making Weiss leave him alone.

Weiss approached Blake and suddenly AJ went from wanting to leave, to ready to step in.

"Weiss, I want you to know, before we start, that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang!" Blake said, standing tall.

 _(A familiar piano starts playing in the background)_

 _One life…_

 _Is not a long time…_

…

"That's it?" Weiss asked simply.

"Um… yes?" Blake answered reluctantly.

 _Shadows…_

"Good! Because we've been searching for you for twelve hours, Belladonna! And in that time I've decided… I don't care!"

 _Seem to fill…your life…_

"You don't… care?" Blake asked.

"You said you aren't one of them! If that's true, then you aren't a danger to me, and AJ really isn't secretly about to leave to go to the White Fang." Weiss reasoned. "Just know that the next time something like this happens, you need to go to your teammates, and not some… someone else." Weiss finished, avoiding saying anything rude when she looked at Sun.

 _Don't spend another minute in…this…way…_

"Of course." Blake said wiping away a tear of joy.

"YEAH! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered.

"Don't think that means I like you though!" Weiss said to Sun. "Because I'm still not sure how I feel about you!" Sun chuckled sheepishly.

Blake turned to AJ and hugged him, happily cuddling her face in his chest.

 _It's…O…K…_

"I told you it would all work out in the end." AJ whispered to her while the others all had started talking about the fight.

 _Twelve…hours…_

Raymond glanced sadly at AJ while everyone else was laughing. 'Someday we'll have to leave him… never thought our friendship would end this way…'

 _Is a long…night…_

'At least he's happy…'

"I'm glad it did." Blake whispered when she looked up from his chest at him. They both gazed into each other's eyes for a few seconds, both reflecting the beautiful moon and starlight, and soon fell into a deep kiss, along with pulling each other further into it.

 _I know you can't stand the thought of be…ing… stray…_

 _One…more…day…_

Final scene with the camera at level with everyone, couple kissing in the foreground, everyone else in the back,

 _Dry your eyes now baby…_

before fading to black…

* * *

 **Yeah yeah I messed with the lyrics on purpose, calm down.**

 **So I'm a dumb, I thought there was one more chapter after this but nope! That's the end of volume one everyone! Know what that means?**

 **This is the end of Fate, Book 1: Beginnings!**

 **Sorry, but because of the SPWM storyline, book 2 and every book after it** _ **will**_ **be M rated. It says it in the summary of this fic so you should already know that.**

 **Hope all of you new readers are enjoying this so far! I have to do homework now, so I'll see you all when I come back with Book 2!**

 **Have a great week everyone!**


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